Greetings, For claimant’s with a date of accident between 1/1/1994 and 9/30/2003, there was a cap on the window where temporary benefits were available of 401 weeks.   Under 440.15(3)(c) they had to use their 104 weeks (back then) of TTD or TPD within 401 weeks (7 years and 8 months ish) of the date of […]

Greetings, As we start off the new year, we typically see new claims that occurred at Employer holiday events.   Compensable?  It depends. (This same analysis applies to all events throughout the year, not just holiday parties. Bah Humbug!) For an injury to be compensable from a recreational/social activity, two things must be true about the […]

Greetings, A few reminder notes for the PTD season: Do not forget to adjust any PTD supplemental benefits effective 1/1/22. Date of accident on/after 10/1/2003- it’s a 3% increase.  The formula is 3% x number of years since the accident x comp rate.   PTD supplemental benefits end at age 62 (unless the accident prevented them […]

Greetings, The state has released the Maximum WC rate for 2022, $1,099, see attached memo.  (Ignore the part where it says $1,099.39, the law rounds to the nearest dollar.)  And don’t ask me why they couldn’t have done a clean $1,100.   https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:b8553c3e-0e7d-488d-ba61-807b19d30831

Greetings, DOAH (Division of Admin Hearings) has published their WC litigation annual report. Some of the comparisons are not apples to apples, DOAH’s fiscal year for the report runs from July 2020 through June 2021. For the comparison, they use the last fiscal year, July 2019 through June 2020. Really only 3 months of the […]

Greetings, Once again, as we prepare to gather with family and friends to celebrate the season, we must be on our toes for 1-time change shenanigans. As we are all aware, based on multiple 1st DCA decisions interpreting the 1-time change section of the FL WC statute (440.13(2)(f)), we have 5 calendar days to respond […]

Greetings, Often, we have to treat a claimant’s underlying personal health condition to get it under control so they can treat for our compensable WC injury.  The treatment of personal health conditions would fall under the Hindrance to recovery theory, and common unrelated conditions we see include uncontrolled diabetes, high blood pressure, weight-loss and smoking. […]

Greetings, Well maybe I don’t know what I thought I knew. Since the 1989 Grimes case, the law on idiopathic accidents had been fairly well settled.   Idiopathic accidents are when  a claimant is just walking and their knee gives way, or they pass out, suffer a seizure etc… These types of accident do not “arise […]

Greetings, Several issues often pop up after a claimant is seen at the hospital following a work accident.   Here are a couple of scenarios, resulting issues and possible solutions: Employer doesn’t know the claimant went to the hospital–  Sometimes the Employer may be unaware the accident occurred.  Other times, the Employer is aware of the […]