Workers’ Compensation

Workers’ compensation insurance provides medical and wage benefits to people who are injured or become ill at work. It’s commonly referred to as “workers’ comp.” By purchasing workers’ compensation insurance, business owners are protected from civil suits from their workers who become injured on the job.  

Employers are required by state law to purchase workers’ compensation insurance for their workers in all but one of the U.S. states. Specific coverage is mandated by each state and the wage and medical benefits also vary by state. Like other businesses, any dental practice with workers is required to provide workers' compensation according to the laws of the state in which they practice.   

Premium costs for workers’ compensation policies are calculated throughout the insurance industry based on two factors: the type of work done by your workers and the amount of money spent to pay your workers.  
 

• Type of work. States group similar businesses with comparable workplace injury patterns or costs into “classes.” Rates are then determined for each class based on the prior five years of loss costs for all businesses within that class. This means dental practices are grouped in a different risk class than police officers, for example.  
• Payroll. To ensure that employers have adequate coverage for the workers on their payroll, most states require insurance providers to conduct annual payroll audits. The more workers employed on the payroll, the more coverage that business needs. TDIC uses the audit process to verify that the payroll and other records quoted at the beginning of the policy reflect the actual payroll during the policy period. If the records don’t match, the price of your workers’ compensation policy premium is adjusted for the policy year. 
   

All workers’ compensation insurance providers utilize a formula which includes type of work, loss history and payroll audits to determine premium costs for their insureds. TDIC policyholders benefit from the unique dentist-centric focus of our policy and claim experts.