State Workers’ Comp Fund Would Compete with Healthy Market

03.20.2009
Issues & Policies

Despite the public’s call for a smaller state government that sticks to its core missions, lawmakers are exploring another state foray into the private sector, with a proposal that could lead to the creation of a state fund for workers’ compensation insurance.

SB-1024 calls for a study of the possibility of such a fund that would operate without the full extent of government oversight, regulatory, tax and other requirements that insurers in the current market must comply with.
Without these safeguards, and by providing the state fund with tax exemptions and other advantages not available to voluntary market insurers, the state fund could essentially become a monopoly, driving competitors out of the state and leaving employers with few options for insurance coverage. Over time it will become cost-prohibitive for other insurers to issue policies here, destroying the competitive market.

State government shouldn’t try to compete with Connecticut’s healthy and stable insurance market, especially at a time when jobs are at a premium. A state fund should only be a tactic of last resort, a short-term way to address problems of a dysfunctional insurance market with no expectation of improvement.

For more information, contact CBIA’s Kia Murrell at 860-244-1931 or kia.murrell@cbia.com. 

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