Blog
Morgan’s Tip of the Week – FL Medical Marijuana Update
Greetings, On June 30, the 1st DCA ruled on whether an Employer/Carrier has to authorize a “referral for Medical Marijuana” in Jones v. Grace Healthcare (1D19-1684), case attached. The DCA found the E/C did not have to authorize the referral: “Under Florida law, marijuana is not reimbursable within our worker’s compensation system. Moreover, extant federal […]
Morgan’s Tip of the Week – Losing Control of One Time Change
Greetings, The 1st DCA issued a troubling decision regarding 1-time changes in St. Lucie Public Schools v. Alexander (case attached). In this case, the E/C timely responded to the 1-time change request, but because there was a 16-day gap in following up on an appointment, the E/C lost control of the choice of doctor. The […]
Juneteenth
Eraclides Gelman Hall Indek Goodman Waters & Traverso recognizes the significance of June 19, 1865, commonly referred to as Juneteenth, a historical date in American history. Juneteenth is many times referred to as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Liberation Day, and Emancipation Day. Juneteenth is a celebration of the abolition of slavery in the United States. […]
Morgan’s Tip of the Week – IB Reductions
Greetings, A frustrating issue came up on one of my files and I thought it would be a good refresher tip of the week regarding reduced impairment benefits. Once a claimant is put at MMI, they are paid impairment benefits at a rate of 75% of their TTD rate per 440.15(3)(c). However, for each week […]
Morgan’s Tip of the Week – The End of Federal Unemployment
Greetings, Florida has announced an early end to the $300 Federal Unemployment benefit on 6/26/21. The Federal Benefit was slated to expire on 9/6/21, but several states have ended the program earlier. Florida will revert back to the state maximum of $275 a week. If you are taking an offset this will have to be […]
Morgan’s Tip of the Week – Newly Hired Challenges
Greetings, The economy in Florida is starting to climb back, and tourism is returning (judging by the number of shrieking, wailing and marauding children at Orlando Int. Airport this weekend). As of right now, Floridians on Unemployment continue to receive the $300 Federal boost on top of the state max of $275. That is slated […]
Morgan’s Tip of the Week – TPD During COVID Layoff, AWW
Greetings, A JCC level case from a week ago caught my eye because it dealt with two issues that I am being asked about fairly frequently. (JCC level cases are not “the law”, and they are not binding on other JCC’s, but are sometimes good indicators as to how other JCC’s may rule). In this […]
Morgan’s Tip of the Week – Temporary MMI
Greetings, I often get questions on what to do when a claimant’s unrelated personal health issues delay surgery or treatment. Well the 1st DCA just affirmed a JCC decision on the issue (without a written DCA opinion) in Carter vs. Seminole Express (April 8, 2021). In this case, the ER could not accommodate light […]
Florida’s 2021 COVID Lawsuit Limitation Law
Wes Heim – Tampa wheim@eraclides.com Just a few days ago Governor DeSantis signed Senate Bill 72 into law and, in doing so, created a robust shield against the anticipated onslaught of COVID-19 lawsuits within the State of Florida. Generally, the provisions of the law are assured to deflect all but the most egregious […]
Morgan’s Tip of the Week – Are you talkin’ to me?!??
Greetings, For some reason, over the last few weeks I have had quite a few questions regarding “fight” cases. I guess everyone is on edge these days. To be compensable, there are three questions to be asked: First, that the workplace was not merely the fortuitous site of the altercation. San Marco Co. v. Langford, […]