8/16/16 Office of Insurance Regulation Rate Hearing for National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) Part 1

The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) proposes an overall average statewide rate increase of 19.6% for workers’ compensation insurance. NCCI submitted the rate filing as a result of three recent legal changes that affect Florida’s workers’ compensation system. Individual projected rate impacts for all three recent legal changes include the following:

• A 2.2% projected rate increase for the June 9^th Florida Supreme Court decision in the case of Westphal v. City of St. Petersburg, in which the Florida Supreme Court found the 104-week statutory limitation on temporary total disability benefits in Section 440.15(2)(a), Florida Statutes  unconstitutional because it causes a statutory gap in benefits in violation of an injured worker’s constitutional right of access to courts. The Supreme Court reinstated the 260-week limitation in effect prior to the 1994 law change.
• A 15% projected rate increase for the April 28^th Florida Supreme Court decision in the case of Castellanos v. Next Door Company, which found the mandatory attorney fee schedule in Section 440./34, Florida Statutes unconstitutional as a violation of due process under both the Florida and United States Constitutions.
• A 1.8% projected rate increase related to updates within the Florida Workers’ Compensation Health Care Provider Reimbursement Manual (HCPR Manual) per Senate Bill 1402. The manual became effective on July 1, 2016.

NCCI proposes an effective date of October 1, 2016, for new and renewal workers’ compensation policies and that the 19.6% rate increase apply to all workers’ compensation policies in effect as of October 1, 2016, on a pro-rata basis for the remainder of each policy’s term.

Watch Part 2