This is not a misprint. Effective January 1, 2018, the state of Florida will be decreasing the statewide overall rate level by 9.5%. This will apply to both new and renewal workers’ compensation policies, effective from this date until the next change.
Many clients have asked me how Florida can have an almost 10% rate decrease after the state just increased the rates almost 15% effective on January 1, 2017. This is a good question and one that many are struggling to answer. Regardless, this is good news for all Florida medical practices and businesses alike. Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier and Florida’s Chief Financial Officer, Jimmy Patronis, both agreed that the lower rate will help Florida job creators and support the state’s growing economy, and they will both try to work with the legislature in 2018 on proposals to keep rates down.
Although Commissioner Altmaier, CFO Patronis, and others are touting this decrease, they are not talking about the difficult uphill battle they face trying to reverse the major 2016 Supreme Court of Florida decisions that have dismantled the workers’ compensation system reforms that were enacted in 2003 and will eventually lead to higher rates as claims payments and attorney fees increase due to these decisions. Florida workers’ comp carriers are already seeing an increase in employee benefits payments and legal fees and I fully expect these lower rates to be short term.
Unless the Florida legislature enacts reforms that can withstand the current Florida Supreme Court decisions, the future rates will continue to rise and this current rate decrease will evaporate. Another glimmer of hope for all Florida employers is the prospect that the governor will appoint three new Supreme Court Justices prior to the end of his tenure. The 2003 reforms clearly helped Florida move from one of the worst states to one of the best in terms of workers’ compensation stability and have been a driving force for Florida’s strong economic growth.
