According to the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI), Washington’s workers’ compensation benefit costs per covered worker are still the nation’s highest. Benefit costs in Washington were $849.67 per covered worker in 2021 (up from $824.53 in 2020). The second highest was $772.41 per covered worker in Wyoming.

As a share of covered wages, benefit costs in Washington were the fourth highest in 2021, at 1.03% (behind Wyoming, Hawaii, and West Virginia).

NASI notes that covered wages in Washington grew by 36% from 2017 to 2021, which was the third-strongest wage growth in the country. Additionally, workers’ compensation benefit costs increased from 2017 to 2021 in only 12 states. That includes Washington, where benefit costs increased by 13.0% (the third most).

The NASI report is released annually with a two-year data lag. Typically, the report is released in the fall, but the report on 2021 data wasn’t released until last month, so the data lag is longer than normal. NASI also usually releases a supplemental “sources, methods, and state summaries” report, which includes data on special funds that states use to administer benefits to certain types of workers, including Washington’s supplemental pension fund. Unfortunately, NASI has not published this report yet. Previous versions had showed how Washington’s supplemental pension fund has increased as a share of total benefits paid.

For 2024, the Department of Labor & Industries increased average workers’ compensation premium rates in Washington by 4.9%. As I wrote when the increase was proposed, the increase is lower than the break-even rate. L&I is using contingency reserve funds to make up the difference. As the data from NASI continues to show, Washington’s workers’ compensation system is costly compared to other states.