Are Nebraska and Iowa taking different roads on workers’ compensation?

Nebraska moved from the 32^nd most expensive workers’ compensation insurance premium rates to 26^th, while Iowa moved from the 24^th most expensive to 30^th most expensive workers’ compensation insurance premium rates, according to the 2018 Oregon Workers’ Compensation Premium Ranking produced  by the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services.

While Nebraska and Iowa both remained in the middle of the pack nationally, Iowa workers’ compensation insurance rates decreased from 101 percent of the national median from the last study in 2016 to 96 percent of the national median in the current study. In contrast, Nebraska’s workers compensation insurance rates increased from 91 percent of the median rate in 2016, to 100 percent of the median rate in 2018.

In short, workers’ compensation insurance became comparatively cheaper in Iowa while it became comparatively more expensive in Nebraska when compared to other states.

Iowa made many changes to that state’s workers’ compensation laws in 2017, that could explain the relative decline in the cost of workers’ compensation insurance in that state. If the relative price of workers’ compensation insurance in Nebraska and Iowa continues to diverge, I would expect a strong push for workers’ compensation reforms in Nebraska similar to those enacted in Iowa.

In other measures, Nebraska remains a friendly legal jurisdiction for business. According to the pro-tort reform Institute for Legal Reform, Nebraska has the seventh least costly legal system for business.