For California employers, premium rates for workers' comp coverage are going up. Yet in most other states, employers are watching their comp rates decrease. Why?

Nationwide, employers are paying less and less to cover their injured employees. Yet, in California, globetrotting Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, at the behest of the Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB), instituted an 8.7% hike in September 2025.

The WCIRB is insurer-led and insurer-controlled, and operates in the interest of insurers. Yet somehow, California allows this undeniably partial entity to determine premium rates based on unverifiable data directly from its insurer members, the accuracy of which even the WCIRB itself disclaims.

This is the state of workers' comp under Governor Gavin Newsom: Premium rates are climbing while regulatory accountability is plummeting.

In this new series, daisyNews will highlight how rates are dropping nationwide and remind California employers of the dysfunction occurring on Newsom’s watch. Today, we turn to Florida, where falling premiums and rising provider reimbursements should give California employers pause.