The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) filed on Friday a request to increase Florida’s workers’ compensation insurance rates by 19.6%.
State regulators from the Office of Insurance Regulation will have to review the proposed rate hike for approval, which comes into effect Oct. 1 once given the green light.
The increase is a response to two recent state Supreme Court decisions, reported
Tampa Bay Times. On April 28, the Court removed a statutory cap on attorney fees for claimants, returning the payment system to hourly fees. Similarly, the Court struck down a law on June 9 that allowed the city of St. Petersburg to cut off an injured firefighter’s temporary disability benefits after two years.
Originally, the NCCI was asking for a 17.1% hike following the April 28 decision, but has since been amended to take into consideration the June 9 ruling.
The Florida Chamber of Commerce issued a statement Friday, saying that the rate hike could hurt the small businesses of the state.
"Small businesses create two of every three jobs in Florida, and a workers' comp rate increase as significant as this could force these businesses to choose between paying higher workers' comp rates and hiring new employees," said chamber president and CEO Mark Wilson. "A 19.6 percent rate increase will cause uncertainty among job creators and may even force a decline in Florida's job growth."
The chamber claims that should the request be approved, Florida will have the highest premiums in the Southeast.
The state Office of Insurance Regulation has set a public hearing in Tallahassee at 9 a.m., Aug. 16.
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