Greetings, one of the more confusing aspects of Florida WC is the handling of permanent impairment benefits under 440.15(3). Here are a few issues that come up: The entire statute is below. (3) PERMANENT IMPAIRMENT BENEFITS.— (a) Once the employee has reached the date of maximum medical improvement, impairment benefits are due and payable within 14 days […]
Greetings, I am often asked questions about accidents that occur while an employee is on a business trip/traveling for work. The statute itself does seem to be strict on compensability, but the caselaw has taken a much broader approach. 440.092(4) TRAVELING EMPLOYEES.—An employee who is required to travel in connection with his or her employment who […]
Greetings, we often use the terms “accident” and “injury” interchangeably. In the Florida WC statute, these are treated very differently, and the burdens of proof are vastly different. Thinking about them as separate things will help you determine whether it is a compensable claim. Think about it this way, the accident is the event, the […]
Greetings, Sometimes a doctor’s narrative medical records are not clear as to their opinion on whether the accident is the Major Contributing Cause of the need for treatment. While yes, we may have the DWC-25 form completed by the doctor’s office…I am not always so certain those rapidly completed check-marked forms can be relied upon […]
Greetings, In Florida, the Employer/Carrier has the duty to either provide transportation for medical appointments or reimburse the claimant for their mileage. The IRS just released their reimbursement rates for 2023, and I have received a few questions about what rate the E/C should be using. Well, it is not a clear answer, and here […]
Greetings, The Division of Admin Hearings has posted proposed changes to the “Q-Rules” of WC Procedure for comment. Most of the changes have to do with the way that mandatory state mediations will be conducted in Florida. Within 130 days of the filing a Petition For Benefits, the state requires a mandatory state mediation. For […]
Greetings, The FL Dept. of Financial Services released the 2023 WC Maximum Compensation rate, $1,197, a 9% increase. This applies to all dates of accident from 12:00 am January 1, 2023 on….memo link below. Also, January 1 is the date to increase PTD supplemental benefits in the following scenarios: Dates of accident since 10/1/2003 Also, […]
Greetings, DOAH (Div of Administrative Hearings), the entity that manages the Florida WC litigation system has just published their annual report which covers July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022. As always, it’s a great collection of trends and facts about the overall state of WC litigation in Florida. The link to the report is […]
Greetings, the 1st DCA issued an opinion last week “clarifying” what it means that the 1-time change must be within the same specialty. Previously, the 1st DCA had said that neurosurgeon is not the same specialty as an orthopaedic surgeon for the purpose of a 1-time change, even if they both perform back surgery in […]
Greetings, This week always brings about claimant’s attorneys attempting to sneak a 1-time change by, in the hopes it gets lost in shuffle. So here is the annual reminder of what to look out for and how to handle the situation. As we are all aware, based on multiple 1st DCA decisions interpreting the 1-time […]