7.7% Workers’ Comp Decrease Recommended in Missouri

If you have suffered a work-related injury or illness, Northland Injury Law can help ensure you receive full and fair compensation under the law. With years of experience, we can help with even the most complicated claims.

The Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance is recommending a 7.7 percent decrease in workers’ compensation insurance loss costs for 2022. This marks the largest overall decrease since 2009.

“Recommended loss costs are decreasing significantly for 2022, due to the continued decline in loss-time claim frequency as a result of safer work places and improved risk management,” said Department of Commerce and Insurance Director Chlora Lindley-Myers. “In addition, for the first time since 2013, there has been a decrease in the average medical cost per lost-time claim. The Missouri Workers Compensation Insurance Market remains robust and competitive with 371 carriers currently offering coverage within the state.”

Prospective loss costs are intended to cover indemnity and medical payments for injured workers and other expenses incurred for providing such benefits. Loss costs are used by insurers to set workers’ compensation insurance rates. Every year, the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), files advisory loss costs. The department reviews the NCCI’s methodology and assumptions and develops its own recommended loss costs.

Under Missouri law, insurers may set their rates based on the NCCI’s recommendations, the department’s recommendations, or their own actuarial analysis. Insurers are not required to change their rates in 2022, regardless of the recommendations made.

Both the NCCI and the department proposed an overall loss cost decrease of 7.7 percent for policies effective Jan. 1, 2022, the largest single-year reduction since 2009. Missouri’s workers’ compensation market has continued its favorable trajectory since then: the NCCI proposed an additional 5.3 percent decrease for 2025, driven by a sustained decline in average indemnity and medical costs per lost-time claim, marking four consecutive years of rate reductions. For 2026, the NCCI proposed a modest 1.3 percent increase, only the second increase in six years, while the Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance noted that costs remain well below historical levels and that the long-term downward trend in workplace injury frequency continues.

Call Northland Injury Law for Help With Your Work-Related Injury!

If you have suffered a work-related injury or illness, Northland Injury Law can help ensure you get full and fair compensation under the law. The attorneys at Northland Injury Law are experienced in navigating the ins and out of the workers’ compensation process and their experience can help you with a complicated claim. For a more comprehensive list of all the questions you might have about workers’ compensation, and for a free consultation, please call (816)-400-4878. If you have further questions about your case, do not hesitate to reach out to us by the phone number, through the contact form, or even with the live chat option listed on our site!