State workers’ comp rates down 60 percent, report shows
Jan 8, 2009
St. Petersburg Times--January 7, 2009
By Jeff Harrington, Times Staff Writer
Workers’ compensation rates in the state have fallen an average of more than 60 percent since a major legislative overhaul of the system in 2003, according to a state-of-the-market report released Wednesday by Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty. The report concludes that Florida’s workers’ compensation market has become affordable and competitive, with 241 workers’ comp writers in the state now, 12 of them starting in 2008. However, McCarty’s office is reviewing a request by the National Council on Compensation Insurance to phase in an 18.6 percent increase over two years. And a fight is still under way over one major fallout of the 2003 overhaul: Far fewer suits are being filed on behalf of injured workers because of changes in the way attorneys are compensated. That helped drive down costs but provoked complaints that valid workers’ comp cases are not getting their day in court.