NCCI Calls for Average 15% Decrease in Florida Workers’ Compensation Rates

The National Council on Compensation Insurance has proposed an average 15.1% decrease in rates for Florida, starting Jan. 1, the latest and one of the largest reduction recommendations in more than a decade of rate filings.

The filing, which will be reviewed by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, follows an 8.4% decrease recommended last year, a 4.9% decrease in 2021 and a 5.7% cut in 2020. The filing for 2024 was based on experience data from policy years 2020 and 2021 and comes despite an uptick in medical costs, NCCI said in a summary.

Florida’s medical costs are expected to rise due to recent medical fee schedule updates, finally allowed after years of debate. The state Department of Administrative Hearings in May dismissed a challenge from Zenith Insurance Co. and others that argued that parts of the reimbursement plan approved by the Division of Workers’ Compensation was out of line with other states and fees are based on inflated hospital charges, not actual payments accepted by the providers.

Florida’s experience, in other ways, reflects trends seen across the country.

“On a countrywide basis, there was a notable rise in claim costs for 2022, with medical claim costs increasing about 5% and indemnity claim costs rising about 6% year over year,” the NCCI summary reads. “The workers compensation system continues to be healthy. Countrywide, lost-time claims, relative to premium, declined 4% in the past year. Private carrier plus state fund net written premium increased about 10% to $47.5 billion in 2022, just above the 2019 level.”

Private carriers posted a calendar year combined ratio of 84%, the sixth straight year with a combined ratio below 90%.

The NCCI analysis did not include COVID-19 claims and the organization is treating those as part of a catastrophic event. The actual filing was not available online, since it includes “trade secrets” and copyrighted information, OIR and NCCI said.

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