IN 2004, the workers compensation system appeared to build on its rebound from the depths the market reached between 1999 and 2002. While no figures for the year are yet available, anecdotal evidence suggests that the trends that were evident in 2003- climbing premium volume, lowering loss ratios and a better return on investment-had a good chance of continuing. The outlook is tempered, however, by such factors as medical inflation, lack of progress toward reforms in some states and above all by the uncertain future of the federal Terrorism Risk Insurance Act.

To obtain some perspective on what agents and brokers can expect in the year ahead, I recently contacted the National Council on Compensation Insurance, as well as two insurers and two MGAs active in the workers compensation market. Their assessments follow.

National Council on Compensation Insurance