Florida Legislature Seeks To Reform Workers’ Comp
Brian O Sutter
Legislature
Workers’ Compensation
Workers’ comp has been an issue the Florida Legislature has sought to resolve for years. Although the Legislature has failed in the past, a new bill recently cleared the Commerce Committee by a vote of 18-8. As a result, the bill will now head to the House floor for a vote. Failed Attempts To Pass Reform
Last spring’s attempt at reform came about as the result of two Florida Supreme Court decisions that led to a 14.5% workers’ comp rate increase. The Legislature attempted to solve the state’s rate problems with two bills – one in the House, and one in the Senate. The Legislature worked to hammer through the differences in the two bills but ultimately could not come to a resolution.
The House and the Senate could not reach an agreement over attorney fees, causing the bills’ failure. The House passed an 11th-hour amendment that capped attorney fees at $180 in an attempt to reach an agreement with the Senate. The Senate, however, capped fees at $250 an hour and were not willing to cooperate. The Senate voted down a measure that would have reduced fees to $200 an hour.
Another Attempt This Fall
The House is again making progress toward workers’ comp reform this year. The legislation that passed committee is very similar to the legislation approved in the House last spring. The bill encourages insurance carrier and injured workers to reach an amicable resolution to any disputes.
What truly distinguishes the current legislation from last spring’s legislation is the state of the workers’ comp market. Last year, rates had just increased. Attempts to pass legislation were seen as a way to curtail, reduce, and eliminate these increases in the future. However, it was just recently announced that rates decreased by nearly 10%. The Legislature does not have as much pressure to get a deal done.
Representative Sean Shaw of Tampa said, “Last session, the logic was ‘We’re in crisis.’ The logic this session is, ‘Let’s be proactive.’ I understand that those are two good reasons, but they are separate and distinct.”
It’s encouraging that the Legislature is proactive because the rates can easily increase again next year. The full effect of the Supreme Court decisions has yet to be felt, which has caused many to speculate that a rate increase will be coming again at some point in the future. Representative Danny Burgess of Zephyrhills, who is sponsoring the bill, said, “We won’t know what (rate increases as a result of the Supreme Court rulings) looks like until 2019. But we do know that fees and hourly (attorney) rates have gone up about 191 percent.”
It appears that attorney fees will again be on the forefront if there is another showdown between the House and the Senate. Burgess continued “We have a solid product. It passed. It struck a balance. We’ve created some meaningful reform. I don’t know that we’ll ever strike a balance that everybody agrees with. But it’s our job to determine what that balance should be.”