Greetings, Well hard to believe we crossed the half-way point in 2024. I thought it would be a good time to look and see where the amount of litigation stands as compared to last year. So, through the first 6 months of 2024, the number of new litigated cases in Florida was down slightly. Number […]
Greetings, as I was planning out my BBQ menu for next week it hit me. July 4th falls on a Thursday; the week looks an awful lot like Thanksgiving week. That means it is ripe for the shenanigans of claimant’s 1-time change requests under 440.13 (2)(f). Due to a series of decisions by the 1st […]
Greetings, yesterday the Governor signed the pending bill SB 362 increasing the FL WC medical fee schedule effective 1/1/2025. The increase for medical services is from 110 percent to 175 percent of the reimbursement amount allowed by Medicare, with surgical procedures increasing from 140 percent of Medicare to 210 percent. Hopefully this will bring more […]
Greetings, Florida has some nuances regarding Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI), so here are some reminders: MMI is defined in the statute as 440.02(10) “Date of maximum medical improvement” means the date after which further recovery from, or lasting improvement to, an injury or disease can no longer reasonably be anticipated, based upon reasonable medical probability. As […]
Greetings, An update on the pending bill increasing the Florida fee schedule for physicians. The bill was finally officially sent to the Governor for signature on Friday 6/7/24 (along with a slew of other bills to sign including CS/HB 87 – Taking of Bears (not sure whether you can or cannot take bears but I’m […]
Greetings, You may recall a Tip that I did last year about a potential drastic change to how the Fla 1st DCA was applying the Statute of Limitations in the Annalie Ortiz v. Winn-Dixie, Inc (1D21-0885) case The DCA’s opinion in Ortiz was put on hold pending Motions for Rehearing, and it has just sat […]
Greetings, As you may have heard, there are proposed changes at the Federal level regarding the use of medical marijuana. As of right now there has been no official change yet, but here is a recap of where we are in Florida, the proposed changes at the Federal level and the timing, and the likely […]
Greetings, there is a lot of confusion surrounding contact with a claimant who is represented by an attorney in Florida. Very often, the claimant’s attorney advises that neither the adjuster nor the nurse case manager can have any contact with the claimant. While that does hold true, the one exception is communicating appointment information to […]
Greetings, After we accept a claim as compensable, sometimes new conditions arise that may or may not be compensable. A great example of this is a referral to a psychiatrist from the authorized doctor. In this instance, where a new condition arises more than 120 days after the accident, are we stuck with it because […]
Greetings, I have received a few questions recently about when settlement checks are due to avoid a late payment, and a resulting 20% penalty and interest. The statute under 440.20(11)(c) states payment must be made within 14 days after the JCC “mails” the order approving attorney fees. We often mistakenly refer to it as […]