North Bay Business Journal

Business Insurance column: Obesity is increasingly contributing to the higher costs in workers’ compensation rates, according to a new study that found indemnity benefit duration of obese claimants is more than five times longer than that claimants who weren’t. …

Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones lowered rates for medical malpractice insurance offered by Napa-based The Doctors Company, a Napa-based interinsurance exchange. …

Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones announced that the California Senate passed SB 1431, which would set guidelines for stop-loss carriers when selling policies to small employers with 2 to 50 employees. …

Insurance carriers and brokers are seeing increased demand in policies specifically tailored to cover an employer in the event of a data breach, a risk that is increasingly common as more and more business moves online for small and large employers alike.

Workers’ compensation insurance rates are continuing to climb upward, as the cost of health care and increasing medical utilization drives up premiums for employers throughout the state, according to brokers in the North Bay.