Fewer workers are filing workers' compensation claims, helpinglower the costs Florida employers will pay for insurance nextyear.

Related: Workers' Comp 101

How big of a reduction in rates will be decided by Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier, whoheld a rate hearing Wednesday in Tallahassee.

9.6% reduction proposed

The National Council on Compensation Insurance, whichproposes rates on behalf of all workers' compensation carriers, hasproposed an overall average 9.6% reduction in premiums for2018.

"It's one of the largest decreases in the last 10 years," JeffEddinger, a senior division executive for NCCI, told Altmaier andfive high-ranking staff members from the Office of InsuranceRegulation. State Insurance Consumer Advocate Sha'Ron James alsoattended the meeting.

He said if the proposed filing is approved, workers'compensation rates will have decreased by 60% in Florida since2003, when the state passed a sweeping workers' compensationlaw.

But Stephen Alexander, an actuary with the advocacy groupFlorida Workers'Advocates, testified that the rates should be reduced by 15.4%instead.

No time frame on decision

Altmaier is charged with reviewing the filing to ensure theproposed changes are not excessive, inadequate or unfairlydiscriminatory.

Altmaier will make the final decision but told reporters afterthe hearing he did not know when he would act on the ratefiling.

"I want to make sure we are deliberate in our process," Altmaiersaid. "I don't want to put a time frame on it. I just want to makesure we do a diligent job and come to the right decision."

Related: 9 things insurance agents can do to help employersmanage workers' comp costs

Alexander, formerly an actuary with the state's insuranceconsumer advocate, focused, in part, on underwriting in hisproposal calling for deeper cuts.

NCCI has proposed a 2% underwriting profit in its rates for2018, while Alexander is proposing a 4% underwriting loss. He saidthe 4%t figure is consistent with carriers' experiences in otherstates where NCCI recommends workers' comp rates.

Alexander also told Altmaier, for example, the state shouldscrap a rule that discourages rate deviation in the workers'compensation market. Just three out of 242 carriers deviate fromNCCI rates today, he said.

Altmaier said after the meeting he would review therecommendations.

Workers' compensation is a no-fault system meant to protectworkers and employers. It is supposed to provide workers who areinjured on the job access to medical benefits they need to be madewhole. Those who are injured for at least eight days also areentitled to indemnity benefits, or lost wages. In exchange forproviding those benefits, employers generally cannot be sued incourt for causing injuries.

Fla. businesses paid $3.8B in 2016

Florida businesses paid nearly $3.8 billion in workers'compensation premiums in 2016, up from about $2.8 billion in 2012.The costs for the mandatory coverage are the 33rd highest in thenation, according to NCCI.

While the system is supposed to be self-executing, injuredworkers hire attorneys when there are disputes over the amounts ofbenefits they should receive.

Related: Key to workers' compensation success: Adapt tochanging environment

The proposed reduction in rates is in stark contrast to lastyear when NCCI requested a 19.6% increase in rates, the majority ofwhich was attributable to a Florida Supreme Court ruling in a casewhere justices ruled that caps on attorney fees wereunconstitutional. The Supreme Court, in a separate decision, alsotossed out a restriction on benefits in the case of a St.Petersburg firefighter injured on the job.

14.5% premium increase in 2016

Ultimately, the state approved a 14.5% increase last year.

NCCI's Eddinger said the 2018 rate filing was based on the twomost recent years of data, 2014 and 2015, and, therefore doesn'tcontain much data from after the 2016 Supreme Court decisions.

Related: Good news for N.Y. state employers: Workers' comppremiums to be reduced by $400

"We won't really see post-data come in until next year or theyear after that," he said adding that about 5% of the claims datain the rate is impacted by the court decisions.

Christine Sexton reports for the News Service ofFlorida. She can be reached at [email protected].