2. Worker's Compensation
3. Insurance Letters
4. 551

Insurance Letter 551

Purpose

To communicate to insurance carriers and self-insured employers the new assessment rate. This includes information regarding deadlines and reminds insurance carriers and self-insured employers that interest will accrue on all unpaid balances after 30 days. The Worker’s Compensation Administrative Assessment is required to be issued annually within the current state fiscal year (July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026). The administrative assessment covering the previous state fiscal year (July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025) was issued Nov. 20, 2024. The new assessment rate includes increases to the Worker's Compensation operations fund for administration of the program under 2025 Wisconsin Act 144, which was effective April 1, 2026.

Background

Section 102.75, Wis. Stats., authorizes the Department to assess and collect the administrative costs for the Wisconsin Worker’s Compensation Act from worker’s compensation insurance carriers and self-insured employers. Each company's indemnity amount is determined by summing the indemnity amounts paid for each claim "first closed" in the previous calendar year. Indemnity includes payments for temporary total and partial disability, permanent total and partial disability, compromises, death benefits and funeral expenses, paid holidays, supplemental benefits, disfigurement, and vocational rehabilitation.

The Worker’s Compensation Administrative Assessment rate is calculated by dividing the net revenue needed to cover the current state fiscal year’s operating costs by the total indemnity payments from carriers and self-insured employers for claims "first closed" in the previous calendar year. The total indemnity paid for 2024 "first closed" claims was $270,934,048. The Worker’s Compensation Division’s (WCD) net operating revenue to be collected for State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2026 is $13,881,456.80. Based on the calculation ($13,881,456.80 divided by $270,934,048), the administrative assessment rate is 5.130%. The administrative assessment rate is calculated using three decimal places and rounded up to avoid a shortfall.

Self-insured employers pay the 5.130% administrative assessment rate plus an additional 2.43% to cover administrative costs of operating the self-insured employers program for a total of 7.540%. Self-insured employer invoices also include the $200 self-insured renewal fee for employers enrolled in the program during the period of July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026.

Each organization's assessment amount is determined by multiplying its 2024 "first closed" claims' total indemnity payments by the rate indicated.

The overall operating budget funds the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) - WC Operations and the Labor & Industry Review Commission (LIRC). Prior to 2025 Wis. Act 33, which took effect Jan. 1, 2026, it also funded the Department of Administration, Division of Hearings and Appeals, Office of Worker's Compensation Hearings (OWCH). OWCH and LIRC are reimbursed out of the overall budget for services provided to the Department.

The breakdown of SFY25 (July 1, 2024-June 30, 2025) expenditures is as follows:

Action requested

Payment of invoice in full is due within 30 days from date of invoice.

Interest will accrue on all unpaid balances after 30 days.

Payment Submission Options

1. Checks payable to DWD-Bureau of Finance (See invoice for remittance address)
2. ACH (electronic) payment instructions may be requested at the email address, below.

Looking Ahead to FY2027 Administrative Assessment

The SFY2027 Worker's Compensation administrative assessment will account for two significant statutory changes that became effective in SFY2026 for the worker's compensation program:

Transfer of Adjudicatory Functions

2025 Wisconsin Act 33, signed into law on Aug. 8, 2025, transferred worker's compensation adjudicatory functions from the Division of Hearings and Appeals at the Department of Administration to the Department of Workforce Development effective Jan. 1, 2026. This SYF2026 Administrative Assessment includes OWCH expenditures from July 1-Dec. 31, 2025. Expenditures for adjudicatory functions from Jan. 1-June 30, 2026 (SFY2026), will be included in the DWD-WC Operations. Therefore, beginning in SF2027 administrative assessment notifications will no longer include the OWCH expenditure line.

Health Service Fee Schedule/Hospital Medical Fee Schedule

2025 Wisconsin Act 15, the 2025-2027 Biennial Budget Bill, was signed into law on July 3, 2025. One of the provisions requires a worker's compensation health service fee schedule, also known as a hospital medical fee schedule, be established on or before July 1, 2027. The legislation included $100,000 in annual expenditure authority as well as a requirement that the Worker's Compensation Division contract with a third-party entity to set up the fee schedule and obtain and aggregate machine-readable files of insurance plans with the necessary payment information. If the contractor costs exceed $100,000, additional expenditure authority may be needed and, if approved by the legislature, could be reflected in the next administrative assessment.

Inquiries

Send to: WCASSESSMENT@dwd.wisconsin.gov: Please do not include email attachments; attachments sent to any WC general email box are automatically removed.

You may reach us by phone: Lynn Weinberger at (608) 405-4600.

Enclosures

Invoice *

* Invoices may be requested via email. Please request by emailing WCASSESSMENT@dwd.wisconsin.gov and providing your preferred email address and names of all organizations for whom you process payments. Please do not include email attachments; attachments sent to general email boxes are automatically deleted.

Reference

Claim detail listing is available on the Administrative Assessments page (Insurer Portal – Assessment Reports using MyWisconsin ID). If you have not logged into the new Insurer Portal, you must create a MyWisconsin Logon ID and use a multi-factor authentication (MFA) method to access the Assessment Detail. Follow instructions in the WC Insurer Portal – Security Instructions to create your MyWisconsin ID and set up MFA.