Under Oregon law, each employer within the state must select one of three workers' compensation insurance options: self-insurance, insurance through a private insurance company, or insurance through the state fund (now SAIF Corporation). This report summarizes workers' compensation premiums and related data for the most recent calendar year for which data is available under this three-way system. Each table and figure in this report has a "last updated" date and the tables and figures are updated when the new data is available. Premium and loss data are shown for private insurance companies and SAIF Corporation. Payroll and simulated premium are shown in total for self-insurers.

The primary premium figures in this report are based upon a concept of "total-system written premium," which includes direct premium written from Annual Statements filed by insurance companies, earned large deductible premium credits for private insurers, and self-insured employers' simulated premiums and excess coverage. Note that direct premium written totals listed in Annual Statements exclude premium for reinsurance, but include amounts for assigned risk business, Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act and Jones Act experience. The self-insured employers simulated premiums are based either on the individual insured's experience modification rate or, for insurers on the Retrospective Plan, 80 percent of the Standard Premium.

An assessment on Oregon workers' compensation insurance premiums provides administrative operating funds for the Workers' Compensation Division, Workers' Compensation Board, Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division, Information Management Division, Fiscal and Business Services Division, and Insurance Division. The assessment also funds the Self-Insured Employers Group Adjustment Reserve, the Self-Insured Employer Adjustment Reserve, and continues to fund rehabilitation costs for workers injured prior to January 1, 1986. The divisions and board became part of the Department of Insurance and Finance, effective July 1, 1987. The Department of Insurance and Finance was then reorganized into the Department of Consumer & Business Services, effective July 1, 1993.

Oregon has employed a competitive rate-making system for workers' compensation insurance since July 1, 1982. Under this system, the rate-making authority (National Council on Compensation Insurance, or NCCI) develops pure premium rates for nearly 500 rating classifications, based on expected losses. Each insurer determines an additional percentage for operational expenses, taxes, and profit, and files this "expense loading factor" with the insurance commissioner. Since January 1, 1988, all filings have been subject to the commissioner's review and approval.

In mid-1982, the Oregon Insurance Commissioner directed that insurers bill their policyholders separately for the premium assessment. Therefore, the premium assessment is excluded from premium data in this report. A summary of the premium assessment and the employer/employee assessments and contributions can be found in Table 5. For comparability, premium data for prior years have been adjusted to also exclude the premium assessment.

In 1996, Large Deductible Premium Credits (LDPC) were added as an option to workers' compensation in Oregon. Under deductible policies, the insurer continues to administer all workers' compensation claims. Employers reimburse insurers, however, for claims costs up to the specified deductible. In return, employers receive a credit on their workers' compensation premium. Insurers and employers are assessed on premium prior to deductible credits.

Sources of data for this report are the Annual Statements filed with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) by SAIF Corporation and private insurance companies. Data on self-insurers are compiled from quarterly Payroll and Assessment Reports which self-insurers file with the department's Fiscal Services Section. Data on earned large deductible premium credits are as reported by insurers on quarterly premium assessment remittance forms.