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Report Points To Healthy Workers Comp Market
December 27, 2014
State regulators have released a report touting Florida’s competitive workers-compensation insurance market, though it also raised the possibility of lawmakers taking steps to reduce the system’s medical costs. The Office of Insurance Regulation provides an annual report on the workers-compensation market to legislative leaders.
The report released Tuesday said Florida has a large number of workers-compensation insurers and that none of the carriers has enough market share to drive prices.
“There are no significant barriers for the entry and exit of insurers into the Florida workers’ compensation market and based on the record of new entrants and voluntary withdrawals with no market disruptions, the Florida workers’ compensation market is competitive, well capitalized and robust,” the report said.
Rates in the workers-compensation system plummeted after lawmakers passed a wide-ranging overhaul in 2003.
The report said rates, as of January 2015, will be 58.3 percent below what they were before the 2003 changes. But it also raises the possibility that lawmakers could reduce rates further by addressing certain types of health-care costs in the system.
“Medical cost drivers, particularly in the areas of drugs, hospital inpatient, hospital outpatient and ambulatory surgical centers … are noticeably higher in Florida than a countrywide average,” the report said. “Legislative reform in the reimbursement of these services could produce substantial savings for Florida employers.”
by The News Service of Florida
Comments
2 Responses to “Report Points To Healthy Workers Comp Market”
This is a joke. Worker’s comp market is competitive? Here is just one example of what’s really happening. Our rural water system has just a few employees. The worker’s comp carrier we’ve used for many years decided last year that they would cancel our coverage because there is a limit to what premium they can charge due to our size. They weren’t making enough money off us, so they dropped us. Our insurance agent tried to find coverage for us elsewhere but NO OTHER COMPANY WOULD WRITE IT. They all wanted us to buy an employee leasing service that would process our payroll and quarterly taxes and would also include the worker’s comp coverage. The cost for this service was 3 times what we’d been paying for worker’s comp insurance. Keep in mind these payroll services are for only 5 employees which takes about 15 minutes per week to do. Quarterly payroll reporting might take 1 hour. Our only other choice was to go to a state underwriting agency which still cost us twice as much as we’d been paying. I fail to see any competitive market here.
This has got to be the most honest report from the state. No significant barriers for insurers. Market is robust and well capitalized. Reforms will save money for employers (ie; more money for insurers). The reasoning for these numbers is that the injured worker gets shafted. The process is so difficult a worker must get an attorney, who then gets a substantial cut of the meager amount you receive. Loopholes are numerous. Example: You work for a company performing construction on a federal contract at NAS Pensacola. One day another employee smacks you in the head with an excavator because he’s high on drugs while at work. You can prove the company knew this employee used drugs at work, yet you cannot sue the company, only the employee who smacked you. You suffer a head injury and start having seizures yet its an ambigous injury, not like a lost hand. Workers comp doctor says nothing is wrong, the doctor your attorney sent you to says there is. They either offer you a pittance of $20k which doesnt cover medical costs in 2 months or go through over a year of legal wrangling for 66% of your wages best case. You still have seizures 3 years later.
Is this fair ? The workers life is ruined. They take your drivers license. All to make more profit for employers and insurers. This is what “lawmakers” do. This is what the media “doesn’t” report. Why ? Cause its all a big scam.