Today the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) released its annual report on workers’ compensation benefits. Also today, the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services released its biennial study of workers’ compensation premium rates across states.

The NASI report shows that for 2016, Washington had the nation’s highest benefit costs per covered worker, at $773.99. (California was second at $737.00.)

This is the ninth year in a row Washington has had the nation’s highest benefit costs. Still, Washington’s benefit costs have been on the decline since reaching $865.67 per worker in 2010. (In 2015, they were $788.62 per worker.)

Additionally, Washington ranked fifth in 2016 for benefit costs as a percent of covered wages (1.32 percent). The report notes that wages covered under the workers’ compensation program in Washington increased 26.8 percent from 2012 to 2016—the largest increase in the country.

Meanwhile, the Oregon study shows that Washington has the nation’s 16^th highest workers’ compensation premium rates—a slight improvement on our 15^th place in 2016. (The Department of Labor and Industries has proposed reducing average rates by 5 percent next year.)

We consider benefit costs (as reported by NASI) to be the best way to measure workers’ compensation system costs and compare them across states. While the Oregon study is often cited in cost discussions, we do not consider it a good measure of Washington’s workers’ compensation system costs. For more on why, see this report.