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April 28, 2009, by The Sacramento Business Journal: California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner on Tuesday urged a workers’ compensation rate advisory group to lower its recommended rate increase, and he announced he’ll hold a hearing in June on rising medical treatment costs.

Poizner asked the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau to withdraw the portion of its recommended rate hike tied to recent workers’ comp judicial decisions.

The Rating Bureau has requested a 23.7 percent increase in the claims cost benchmark. Almost three-fourths of the increase was driven by increased medical costs. The rest was just a starting point for additional costs resulting from the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board decisions known as Almaraz/Guzman and Ogilvie, which involve permanent disability issues.

“WCIRB should withdraw the portion of the increase related to the Almaraz and Ogilvie cases,” Poizner said in a news release. “The governor has said that he believes the ruling will not survive the appellate process in its current form and that his administration supports the effort to overturn the decisions. I believe that any increase should be considered after the judicial process has concluded.”

Poizner said information he heard Tuesday at a workers’ comp rate hearing did not support the recommended rate increase of 23.7 percent. Medical treatment costs are rising, but insurance carriers “have the ability to control costs through medical treatment guidelines, utilization review and medical provider networks,” he said. “So rather than explain why costs are going up, all I heard is that they are going up and we should pass them along in the form of rate increases. This is unacceptable and the public deserves better.”

Poizner said he’ll ask insurers and medical service providers to a June 8 hearing in Sacramento to explain why medical cost are spiraling.

“When we get those answers, I will ask the governor and the Legislature to make the necessary changes to ensure a stable and effective workers compensation system,” the commissioner said in the release.

Amid a whirlwind of opposition from employers and insurers, the Appeals Board has agreed to reconsider its controversial rulings that some fear could dismantle reforms that brought stability and cost savings to the system.