Blog
Morgan’s Tip of the Week – Fla Re-Opening for Some Medical Treatment
Greetings, Florida has made the decision to enter Phase 1 of re-opening starting Monday May 4th (except for 3 counties, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach). One of the issues affecting our claims has been the delay in surgeries and medical treatment due to the Exec Order putting elective procedures on hold. The Order from the […]
Morgan’s Tip of the Week – Investigating COVID Claims
Greetings, hope everyone is well and staying sane. I am receiving several daily questions about compensability of COVID-19 claims under 440.151 Occupational Disease. A point to remember, unless someone actual has contracted the virus, there is no “injury” and therefore no claim. And even after, it then needs to be evaluated as to whether or […]
Morgan’s Tip of the Week – Update on FL WC System
Greetings, I hope you are doing as well as can be under the circumstances. I have received a number of questions about the status of the FL WC system. In essence it is still functioning on schedule. All State Mediations are occurring by phone through 4/30. Motion hearings are by phone as well. Private mediations […]
Morgan’s Tip of the Week – Fla WC Guidance on COVID-19
Greetings, On 4/6, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (which all of you know from paying close attention during our 5 hr law and ethics CEU) issued an informational memo: TO ALL INSURERS AND ENTITIES REGULATED BY THE FLORIDA OFFICE OF INSURANCE REGULATION AUTHORIZED TO WRITE WORKERS’ COMPENSATION INSURANCE regarding COVID-19 and WC. Basically it […]
Briefly Speaking – Case Law Updates (4/8/20)
Edgar Santana v. EFN West Palm Motor Sales JCC Hedler: West Palm Beach District Order date: 2/28/2020 OJCC Case: 19-004619TAH Date of Accident: 1/24/2019 Claimant’s Counsel: Marcos R. Gonzalez E/C’s Counsel: Sal Richardson JCC Order: Click Here Briefly: Compensability Summary: The Claimant was involved in a motor […]
Morgan’s Tip of the Week – COVID and 1st Responders
Greetings, The CFO of Florida yesterday put out the attached directive extending WC coverage to “Frontline State Employees” who have tested positive for COVID-19 as an occupational disease. The Directive states in essence it is a presumption of compensability unless the State of Florida can show by preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not) […]
Morgan’s Tip of the Week – Changes in Unemployment Benefits/Offset Amounts
Greetings, What’s new? I hope everyone is managing to get through this stressful time. We will get back to normal…eventually. Promise. Florida WC law provides for a reduction/offset in benefits if the claimant is receiving unemployment benefits (UE). Last week, a record number of people filed for unemployment benefits, 3.3 million people nationwide. Florida had […]
Morgan’s Tip of the Week – Questions in Today’s World
Greetings, I hope all of you are healthy, and managing to cope with the stress of this temporarily crazy world. Remember, this is temporary, we will get through it. Thought I would share a few of the Florida questions that I have been getting about various situations due to the…uh….situation. TPD and economic layoffs- If […]
Briefly Speaking – Case Law Updates (3/30/20)
Marek Krysiak v. City of Kissimmee, Toho Water Authority, Preferred Gov’t Claims Solutions JCC Sculco: Orlando District Order Date: 2/13/2020 1 DCA Case #: 1D18-5241 OJCC Case: # 18-005944 Date of Accident: 10/12/2016 Appellant’s Counsel: Will B. Ramhofer; Appellee’s Counsel: Kristen L. Magana JCC Order: Click Here DCA Opinion: Click Here Briefly: […]
TPD Eligibility After Post-Accident Termination For Cause: Do I Really Have To Pay This Claimant?
By: Abby L. Loeffler, Associate, Jacksonville Generally, temporary partial disability (TPD) benefits are payable to a claimant if the claimant has not reached overall maximum medical improvement from the injury and the medical conditions resulting from the injury create restrictions on the claimant’s ability to work. To establish entitlement to TPD benefits, the claimant must […]