Florida Cuts Workers’ Comp Rates After Lawyer Fee Cap Reinstated

Florida’s insurance regulator has approved a rollback of workers’ compensation insurance rates from April 1 rates to the lower rates that were in effect on Jan. 1.

The order by Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty came as a result of Gov. Charlie Crist’s signing into law of H.B. 903, legislation that restores a cap on attorney fees and clarifies related statutory language that the Florida Supreme Court had determined to be ambiguous.

On Feb. 26, McCarty had approved a 6.4 percent increase, citing the cost increases expected as a result of the Oct. 23 Supreme Court opinion in the case of Emma Murray v. Mariner Health Inc. that eliminated caps on attorney fees.

The rate rollback will save Florida employers about $172 million, according to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. It effectively restores an 18.6 percent rate decrease worth $610 million that took effect Jan. 1.

The lower rates apply to new and renewal business starting July 1. They are based on a filing by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI).

Under the new law, attorneys will continue to be paid based on a fee schedule of 20/15/10/5 percent of benefits secured. Hourly fees will not be allowed.

Lawyers have argued that the cap on fees hurts injured workers’ access to legal representation.

But McCarty rejected that argument. “I believe that injured workers still will have appropriate access to the legal system while also still keeping workers’ compensation rates affordable for employers,” he said.