WSI gives joint committee a briefing: $2.2 billion reserves, monopolistic system, and lifetime medical coverage

Tim Wallin, a senior official with Workforce Safety and Insurance (WSI), delivered a detailed overview of North Dakota's workers' compensation system to the joint legislative committee, describing WSI as a constitutionally established, monopolistic provider that holds roughly $2.2 billion in reserves and provides lifetime, deductible‑free medical benefits to injured workers.

Wallin told lawmakers WSI was established in 1919 and operates as a special‑fund agency with no general fund dollars; premiums are employer‑paid. He said WSI covers about 412,000 worker‑jobs and roughly 27,000 employers, and that the agency anticipates about 17,000 claims in the year referenced. “We are constitutionally established,” Wallin said, and identified the system’s advantages: no profit motive, no brokerage or marketing costs, and dividends returned to…