Workers’ comp. costs
Business, labor and political leaders should be commended for having done such a good job improving the state’s workers’ compensation system – and a great job of promoting that fact. But the reality is that Rhode Island’s workers’ compensation still has room for improvement. According to a report by New York-based Actuarial Solutions, Rhode Island has enjoyed dramatic decreases in workers’ compensation costs in recent years, including a drop of 16 percent from 1998 to 1999. That decrease is better than the national average of 9 percent.
That’s good news – and it has been widely reported. But just as telling is the fact that 10 other states experienced even greater decreases over the same period. As a result, Rhode Island’s cost ranking – third highest among 44 states ranked – remains unchanged for the third consecutive year.
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Besides cost rankings, Actuarial Solutions’ report provides rankings of workers’ compensation benefits for all 50 states. Rhode Island’s benefits are the sixth most generous, contributing to its high cost.
An Actuarial Solutions consultant credited Rhode Island for “going in the right direction and getting closer to the pack.”
That’s encouraging, but it’s not enough.
Workers’ compensation costs continue to present a major burden, particularly to Rhode Island’s small business owners. The progress that has been made to improve the system has been admirable, especially noteworthy because of the obvious cooperation that was fostered among business and labor camps.
It is unfortunate that the system was in such a shambles to begin with – that the road to recovery is so long. But it is also a harsh reality. And with health care in a state of utter turmoil, we must anticipate deepening and more troubling challenges. Rhode Island needs to continue in the direction it has been going in recent years, to not only bring us “closer to the pack,” but to put us in a position to lead the pack.
It has been said that Rhode Island’s revamped workers’ compensation system is now a model for other states. That claim rings hollow when in such critical areas, the system continues to rank at the back of the pack.
Serving as a national model is reasonable and attainable goal for the Rhode Island workers’ compensation system. But we’re not there yet.
Hotel rates
While the Masonic Temple hotel project is far from becoming a reality, it took a leap forward last week when the Capital Center Authority approved the project. Funding and other regulatory approvals will need to be in place before the project actually begins, but at least its movement may be a step toward providing much needed hotel rooms in Providence and throughout Rhode Island.
From June to August of this year, Rhode Island’s hotels had the highest occupancy rate in the nation (88.8 percent in August), according to Smith Travel Research. Certainly that’s good news for hoteliers, who have seized upon high occupancy rates to increase room rates.
In a recent survey by the Providence Business News, we found that hotel rates have increased across the board in Rhode Island, with some jumping by nearly 70 percent from last year to this. Who would have ever thought that a single hotel room in Providence could command $245 a night? But that’s exactly what it does, according to officials at the Westin Hotel. And elsewhere rates range as high in the state as $399 for a single room for one night’s stay – at peak times, of course.
When the Convention Center opened we promoted the city as an alternative to the higher priced markets in Boston, New York and elsewhere. We suggested to groups considering meetings that we not only had the space in a first class facility, but affordable lodging nearby and an interesting and improving city as well. But with skyrocketing hotel rates, it’s difficult anymore to say we provide more reasonably priced lodging than some of the larger cities.
That’s all to say it’s good news when we hear of a hotel project moving forward, even if it is among the more pricey that’s been proposed, like the Masonic Temple. Clearly we need additional hotel space, both to adequately fill the need and to provide enough competition to make sure we don’t price ourselves out of the market.
