Florida Insurance Commissioner Approves 7.8 Percent Workers’ Comp Rate Increase–Lower Than National Council on Compensation Insurance Recommendation
Oct 15, 2010
Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty approved a 7.8 percent workers’ compensation rate increase today, October 15, 2010. This rate is lower than the 8.3 percent originally requested by the National Council on Compensation Insurance at a hearing earlier this month.
Reprinted below, a Florida Office of Insurance Regulation news release on the rate approval contains a hyperlink to Commissioner McCarty’s order.
Should you have any questions or comments, please contact Colodny Fass.
Florida Insurance Commissioner Issues Order with Respect to NCCI’s Workers’ Compensation Rate Filing
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty today announced that he has advised the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) that he would approve a rate filing to increase Florida’s workers’ compensation insurance rates by 7.8 percent to be effective January 1, 2011 for new and renewal business. Commissioner McCarty’s action is technically a denial of NCCI’s recent rate filing that sought an 8.3 percent increase.
“The rate increase that that has been justified would still give Florida the lowest rates in the southeast, and likely keep us in the top 10 states nationally for most affordable workers’ compensation insurance,” said Commissioner McCarty. “The NCCI’s prior seven annual filings represent the largest consecutive cumulative decrease in rates in our state’s history.”
If NCCI accepts the Commissioner’s findings and makes a re-filing, this would give Florida a cumulative decrease of 61.9 percent since 2003, and keep Florida’s workers’ compensation rates below the state’s average rates in 2009. Prior to the 2003 legislative reforms, Florida consistently ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the country for the highest workers’ compensation rates; however, post-reform Florida rates have become some of the most competitive in the nation.
The Office conducted a public hearing on this rate issue on October 5, 2010 in the Senator Jim King Committee Room in the Senate Office building. NCCI presented its analysis; other industry experts and the Florida’s Consumer Advocate also provided testimony. The Office’s analysis used a different medical trend factor than the one used in the NCCI filing which led to a marginally different outcome. The Office prepared a graph to illustrate the rate changes from 2003 to present. The last data point is what the Office would approve.
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