NCCI calls for low workers’ compensation rate drop for Florida after new doctor fees

Annual double-digit workers’ compensation rate cuts have become routine in nearly every US state in recent years. That trend may now have come to an end in Florida, where the National Insurance Compensation Board recommends an average drop of 1 percent for the voluntary market.

It is the smallest decline in more than seven years. NCCI said the rate, if approved by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, is largely the result of higher reimbursements for physicians beginning in January 2025.

Florida lawmakers, with Senate Bill 362, earlier this year approved a new workers’ compensation maximum reimbursement plan for physicians for the first time in years, allowing a large increase in physician pay — from 110 percent of the reimbursement program of Medicare to 175% in many cases.

Surgery rates will increase from 140 percent to 210 percent of Medicare reimbursement, the law says. The new fee schedule can be accessed here.

State law requires a legislative review when the changes affect business revenue by more than $1 million, statewide, and lawmakers have refused to ratify the reimbursement manual until recently. A healthcare provider reimbursement manual was approved by Florida lawmakers in 2023.

“NCCI estimates that SB 362 will result in a +5.6% impact on the total costs of the workers’ compensation system,” NCCI said in a summary of the proposed rate change. “Excluding the impact of this bill from the filing would result in a -6.4% revised overall rate decrease, as opposed to the -1.0% change filed.”

The smaller rate drop may come as a relief to some roofing contractors, who worried last year that repeated cuts overlooked safety issues in the industry and could ultimately lead to higher rates or potential income issues for the self-insured. Over the past half decade, Florida has seen average rate declines of 15.1% for 2024; 8.4% for 2023; 4.9% for 2022; 6.6% for 2021; 7.5% for 2020; and 13.8% for 2019.

The 2025 rate recommendation was based in part on data from the 2021 and 2021 policy years. NCCI, which recommends reductions in loss rates and costs for 38 states, said the frequency of loss-of-time claims continued to decline in Florida and in most states. Across the country, changes in the severity of claims were moderate.

“Continued focus on worker safety and technological advances are seen as contributing to fewer workplace injuries over time,” the summary states. “The most recent change in medical severity aligns with projected medical inflation, while benefit severity has been tracked with changes in average weekly wages.”

The council offered a webinar last week explaining its new weighted medical price index, along with a report on medical inflation.

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