Fla. Drops Comp Rates After Attorney Fee Cap Restoration

NU Online News Service, June 4, 9:55 a.m. EDT

Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty announced yesterday that he has issued an order reinstituting an 18.6 percent rate decrease for workers' compensation insurance that had gone into effect Jan. 1.

His action came in the wake of legislation restoring a cap on fees for attorneys representing injured workers in comp cases that had been overturned on Oct. 23, 2008, by the Florida Supreme Court.

In April, after factoring in the court decision, rates were raised 6.4 percent. Polices bought after April 1 will now get the original lower rate, a spokesman for the Office of Insurance Regulation said.

Mr. McCarty's order also followed a recent filing by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) that calculated rates after Gov. Charlie Crist signed HB 903, the legislation restoring the cap on attorney fees, which the Florida Supreme Court had overturned for being ambiguously worded in its Emma Murray v. Mariner Health Inc. decision.

"I am pleased that Gov. Crist and the Florida Legislature recognized the importance of keeping our workers' compensation rates down," said Mr. McCarty. "I believe that injured workers still will have appropriate access to the legal system while also still keeping workers' compensation rates affordable for employers."

Mr. McCarty noted that prior to 2003 legislative reforms that included the fee cap, Florida consistently ranked number-one or number-two in the country for the highest workers' comp rates, but post-reform Florida has dropped out of the top-10 rankings.

The approved rate decrease, according to OIR calculations, will save Florida employers about $172 million in insurance costs. It effectively restores the 18.6 percent rate decrease that took effect Jan. 1 with a projected savings of $610 million for Florida employers.