Bureau of Workers' Compensation presents biennial budget, asks legislature for prosthetic-claim exception

Administrator and CEO Stephanie McLeod of the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation told the Senate Financial Institutions Insurance and Technology Committee at the first hearing on amended House Bill 81 that the bureau's 2026–27 budget would hold overall rates steady while seeking discrete statutory changes.

McLeod told the committee that BWC is “for all essential purposes, an insurance company,” funded by employer premium payments and serving about 258,000 public and private employers. She said BWC has approximately 1,600 employees statewide and assets of about $23,100,000,000.

The bureau's requested budget shows a 2% decrease for fiscal year 2026 compared with 2025 and a level request for fiscal year 2027 versus 2025, McLeod said. She described the request as intended to keep employer costs low while maintaining services and investing in staff to reduce reliance on contracted personnel.

McLeod identified a set…