State risk management official briefs Senate committee on workers’ comp, liability and flood insurance trends

Rebecca White, director of risk management at the Vermont Agency of Administration, told the Senate Committee on Government Operations on Feb. 18 that the office’s fiscal‑year insurance and claims metrics show mixed trends across workers’ compensation, general liability and property/flood coverage as the state prepares its FY 2026 budget request.

White told the committee the state remains self‑insured for workers’ compensation and that ‘‘we are completely self insured. So the state pays, you know, if there's a catastrophic claim, we pay, you know, all of it.’’ She presented counts, department shares of claims and rate metrics used to allocate premiums to state agencies.

The briefing matters because changes in claims volume and insurance market pricing affect departments’ internal premiums and the state’s fiscal exposure. White said the office watches ‘‘pure premium’’ metrics (cost per $100 of payroll) and other measures to set prevention targets and bill individual departments.

Key facts and figures presented by White: - Workers’ compensation claims filed in 2024: 692. - Department shares of workers’ compensation claims (approximate percentages given at the hearing): Corrections about 22%; Transportation about 21%;…