The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) released its 2026 State of the Line report, and its conclusions are no surprise to industry experts: workers’ comp remains a profitable line of insurance, even as most states lower employers’ premium rates.

While the key measure of profitability, the net combined ratio, is less impressive than last year’s, workers’ comp is still a winner for insurers. As a result, the NCCI, independent rating bureaus, and other comp authorities across the country have reported lower loss cost ratios and recommended easing the premium burden on employers.

Mutual insurers like Texas Mutual and the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Company (LWCC), both the largest carriers in their respective states, are returning millions in dividends to policyholders based on recent performance.

…and then there’s California, where the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB) insists that employers pay more for comp coverage.

The WCIRB requested a 10.4% premium increase for 2026 on top of last year’s 8.7% hike. Using unverifiable data and facing skepticism about how it reportedly “skews” its data to support higher premiums from which its insurer members benefit, the WCIRB insists that California is a rare exception to the national trend.

Never mind that many of California’s insurers are the same national insurers making bank on comp across the country, or that California insurers have loss ratios that indicate profit. Even the state’s non-profit insurer of last resort, the California State Compensation Insurance Fund (CA State Fund), has healthy loss ratios and announced its own dividend return to policyholders.

Employers across the US are enjoying a period of shrinking costs for comp coverage. California employers should be incensed at being an inexplicable exception.