Florida OKs workers’ comp rate decrease

Insurance chief cites tax overhaul

Workers’ compensation insurance rates in Florida continue to drop.

Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier announced Tuesday he approved an average 1.8 percent decrease in 2018 rates as a result of the federal tax overhaul approved in December. The reduction will take effect for new and renewal workers’ compensation policies effective June 1.

This is the second reduction in 2018 rates for Florida businesses. Altmaier late last year approved a 9.8 percent reduction that took effect in 2018.

State Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis estimated the new reduction could save businesses as much as $79.5 million this year. Patronis oversees the Florida Department of Financial Services, where the Office of Insurance Regulation is administratively located.

The National Council on Compensation Insurance filed the proposed rate reduction last month to reflect changes in the federal law, including decreases corporate tax rates.

Workers’ compensation is a no-fault system meant to protect workers and employers. It is supposed to provide workers who are injured on the job access to medical benefits they need to be made whole. Those who are injured for at least eight days also are entitled to indemnity benefits, or lost wages. In exchange for providing those benefits, employers generally cannot be sued in court for causing injuries.

The system is supposed to be self-executing, but sometimes injured workers hire attorneys when there are disputes over the amounts of benefits they should receive.

While there have been two rate reductions approved for 2018, Altmaier approved a rate increase in the wake of a Florida Supreme Court ruling in 2016 that said long-standing caps on plaintiffs’ attorney fees were unconstitutional. Following that ruling, Altmaier approved a 14.5 percent hike, effective December 2016. in