I got behind in my posts. I was attending the West Virginia WC Conference on the changeover of the Workers Compensation program from Brickstreet to the general market on 7/1/08. Here is an article where I was quoted from the Charleston Daily Mail. WV has made great strides in becoming a non-monopolistic state.

158 firms register for workers' compensation conference
by George Hohmann
Daily Mail business editor

More than 150 people -- including representatives of some of the nation's largest workers' compensation insurers -- have signed up for a conference to learn how they can enter West Virginia's workers' comp insurance market.
Pre-registration for Wednesday's conference at the Marriott is a positive indication that there's interest in writing workers' comp insurance in West Virginia when the market opens to competition next July, Insurance Commissioner Jane Cline said today.
"We're pleased with the response and turnout because it does represent a number of companies that write workers' compensation insurance across the country as well as local people who have an interest in the transition and work with the insurance industry," Cline said.
"We've met with a number of national carriers and continue to meet with the trade associations that represent a majority of carriers that write workers' compensation."

On Jan. 1, 2006, West Virginia transitioned workers' compensation insurance from a state-run monopoly to a private company, BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co.
BrickStreet has been the sole provider of workers' comp insurance in West Virginia since the transition and will remain the sole provider until July 1, 2008.
As of Friday, a total of 158 people had registered for Wednesday's conference. Many represent large national insurance companies, including AIG, Erie, Liberty Mutual, State Farm, Travelers, Wausau, Westfield and Zurich.

Local insurance agents, lawyers, consultants, data reporting forms, West Virginia legislators and representatives of the state Attorney General have also registered.
People are coming from West Virginia, Ohio, New York, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Maine, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Kentucky, Nebraska, Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana, Texas, Wisconsin, Illinois, Connecticut, Maryland, Colorado, New Jersey and Washington, D.C.

Last week Cline pointed out that workers' comp premiums have declined an aggregate of 27 percent since West Virginia's transition to private insurance. BrickStreet has reported it made a $25.2 million profit in the first six months of this year, continuing the dramatic financial turnaround begun since the transition.
James Moore, president of J&L Risk Management Consultants of Raleigh, N.C., is one of the conference pre-registrants. He said last month, "Any insurance carrier looking to break into the market will have to build off the BrickStreet model. If the big carriers -- Liberty Mutual, Travelers, etc. -- see the model as profitable, they will enter the market, which will be very healthy for West Virginia businesses. Competition creates a pressure to lower prices and increase service.

"If they do not accept the model, they will not enter the market," Moore said. "If no carriers enter the market, that would be very unhealthy for the business environment in West Virginia."
Cline's office and the National Council on Compensation Insurance, also known as NCCI, are hosting the conference. The state Insurance Commissioner regulates insurance companies. NCCI is West Virginia's rating and statistical agent.
The conference will be from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.