On April 5, 2017, the Florida House of Representatives’ Insurance & Banking Subcommittee passed HB 7085 which addresses issues within Florida’s Workers’ Compensation law that have been deemed unconstitutional.
Highlights of the agreement include:
- Claimants’ attorneys must detail hours worked in the form of an attestation to a judge of compensation claims (JCC) at certain intervals before a hearing on a petition for benefits (PFB);
- Deviations from the current statutory fee schedule (departure fees) are allowed if the fees are less than 40 percent or greater than 125 percent of the customary fee when the amount allowed under the fee schedule is converted to an hourly rate;
- JCC is required to determine, in a departure fee scenario, the number of hours worked by a claimant attorney, deduct hours related to benefits on which the claimant did not prevail, and reduce excessive hours;
- JCC is also required, when determining the departure fee, to consider certain factors, and compute a new hourly rate capped at $150/hour which is the average hourly rate of defense attorneys;
- Employers and carriers may now contest departure fees within 20 days of an award which will be reviewed by a JCC in another district;
- Temporary total disability benefits (TTD) and temporary partial disability benefits (TPD) have been revised to allow an employee to extend the number of weeks they receive benefits if they are still improving and have not yet reached MMI;
- Claimants must be notified that they may be responsible for their own attorney’s fees if they do not prevail;
- PFB must now include specific information to allow employers and insurers to respond to a claimant’s request;
- A good faith attempt to resolve issues is now required before a PFB is filed and JCCs may now dismiss PFBs when a good faith effort was not made
The bill will now move to the floor of the House for a vote.
Click Here to read more about the proposed changes.
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Meanwhile, in the Florida Senate, SB 1582 which allows insurers to independently research and file their own workers compensation insurance rates in Florida was approved by the Banking and Insurance Committee. It now heads to the Appropriations Committee.
The Senate bill:
- Caps the hourly rate awarded by judges in workers comp cases to $250 an hour for attorneys who represent injured workers;
- Requires carriers to authorize or decline, rather than respond to, certain requests for authorization within a specified time;
- Revises conditions under which the JCC must dismiss petitions for benefits;
- Adds prospective loss costs to a list of reviewable matters in certain proceedings by appellate courts; and
- Requires copies of prospective loss costs to be filed with the Office of Insurance Regulation.
You can read more about the SB 1582 Here.
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Johns Eastern will continue to keep you updated on the status of these bills with updates on what it may mean for you and your employees.