The state offers voluntary safety consultations and safety grants to employers. With deregulated rates, insurers now compete vigorously for business on the basis of safety. The largest private carrier, for example, makes the case to potential policy holders that its safety experts will work with the employer to reduce accidents and ultimately to reduce costs below current levels. It has also encouraged groups of smaller employers to buy group coverage. Wisconsin has long had a reputation as a model workers compensation state, combining low cost to employers with reasonably high worker benefits.
Total benefits are comparable to other states, but they are paid out over a very long period.
James R. Chelius, Ph.D . He has published articles and books on a wide variety of subjects related to the impact of government policy on workers and businesses. His interest in workers compensation dates to service as an economist for the National Commission on State Workmen s Compensation Laws in 1972. Edward Moscovitch, Ph.D . Good Intentions Gone Awry.