The soaring costs of workers' comp

Dade Behring Inc., a $1.2 billion medical diagnostics

Despite its efforts-shopping around for the best and cheapest insurance, demonstrating to insurers its commitment to curbing costs-the 6,600-employee company saw the price tag skyrocket. Even after a deductible increase, the insurance tab doubled, says Paul Moss, the firm's vice president for global health, safety, and environment. "In this kind of marketplace, you can do all the right things and still not see a reflection in your rates, and that's pretty scary."

Dade Behring's experience is a warning-workers' compensation insurance premiums will soar when policies come up for renewal, and there's not much you can do about it. Even rigid accident-prevention and cost-control programs may not help much. While Dade Behring's whopping increase may be unusual, the company is one of a growing number of firms that are experiencing huge jumps in workers' comp insurance premiums. Base rates, which are used by insurers to determine premiums, are rising in a number of states, with some seeing double-digit increases: Hawaii, 15.8 percent; South Carolina, 20.3 percent; and Florida, 21.5 percent.