Florida Rejects Requested 1% Hike In Workers’ Compensation Rates

             Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has rejected an insurance industry request for an increase in Florida employers’ Workers’ Compensation rates.

            McCarty issued an order on October 23 notifying the National Council on Compensation Insurance NCCI) that its 1% proposed annual rate filing increase in Florida’s workers’ compensation insurance rates was disapproved.  

            According to McCarty, after a careful review and analysis by the Office of Insurance Regulation, the filing asserted an increase in production expenses that were not supported by the information submitted by NCCI. 

            NCCI, nonetheless, can re-submit the rate filing and if it does so a 0.7% increase would be approved to become effective on January 1, 2014, for new and renewal business.  

            This potential approval would represent a 56.0% cumulative reduction in Florida Workers’ Compensation rates as a result of legislative reforms introduced in 2003, and keep Florida rates comparable to other states, according to McCarty. 

            “Although a marginal rate increase is necessary for worker’s compensation insurance in Florida, the underlying factors causing the spike in rate increases over the last four years still merit legislative attention,” stated McCarty. “Evidence from the hearing demonstrated that rates could be reduced by as much as 8.3% if the reimbursement for hospital inpatient, hospital outpatient and ambulatory surgical centers were statutorily limited to 120% of Medicare reimbursement.”

                --- Originally posted October 25, 2013