California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, whose recommendations have been largely ignored by insurers, yesterday called for a fourth consecutive decrease in workers' compensation premium rates, this time by 15.3 percent.

This latest non-binding recommendation would bring to 46.2 the total reduction in premiums that the commissioner has called for since workers' compensation reforms were enacted in California in 2003.

Mr. Garamendi's proposed decrease is less than that called for by the state Workers Compensation Insurance Review Board, which asked for a 15.9 percent decrease in pure premium.

Mr. Garamendi's call for a reduction is only advisory, and he has expressed concern over what he sees as insurers taking advantage of the savings brought by reforms rather than passing them on to their customers.

In making yesterday's announcement, he noted that his prior reductions totaled 36.5 percent, while insurers had only cut rates on average by 26.7 percent.

"This does not compute," he said. "Insurance companies are currently paying just 38.5 cents of every premium dollar they collect for the care of injured workers. It's obvious that the savings are there--insurers simply need to pass them on."

Mr. Garamendi's criticism of the insurers has drawn fire from the industry, even prior to the latest announcement. Sam Sorich, president of the Association of California Insurance Companies, said that such claims paint an unfair portrait of the workers' comp insurance market, adding that it provides only "a snapshot in time," and often doesn't take into account recent rate changes.

Additionally, many insurers, including the state insurer of last resort that controls roughly half of the workers' compensation market in California, have used the savings to build reserves.

Overall, however, the reforms enacted in California have helped, Mr. Garamendi said, by stopping what he called an "up-escalator" of rising workers' comp costs that were slowing state's economy.

"The turnaround provided by this legislation is significant and great news for our state's economic health," Mr. Garamendi said. "Insurers should recognize that the additional savings now available could be the fuel that injects even more life into our recovering economy." However, the commissioner also noted that, as the reforms made by the most recent legislation, SB 899, take full effect, the pace of decreasing rates could slow somewhat.