WSR 15-02-061

PERMANENT RULES

[Filed January 6, 2015, 9:37 a.m., effective April 1, 2015]

Effective Date of Rule: April 1, 2015.

Purpose: The current mortality tables used to determine the funding needs for injured workers who are totally permanently disabled and for survivors of fatally injured workers are over thirty years old. These tables need to be updated for life expectancy and gender.

The pension discount rate is the interest rate used to account for the time value of money when evaluating the present value of future pension payments. The current pension discount rate of 6.5 percent is too high given market rates of long-term Treasury bonds, which are considered by the actuaries for establishing discount rates. The department has worked with the workers' compensation advisory committee (WCAC) to develop a plan that would reduce the pension discount rate from the current 6.5 percent to 6.4 percent and continue to adjust annually, through 2022, until it reaches 4.5 percent.

Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 51.04.020, 51.44.070(1), 51.44.080.

Adopted under notice filed as WSR 14-23-063 on November 18, 2014.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Date Adopted: January 6, 2015.

Joel Sacks

Director