Greetings, The Florida Legislature passed a bill increasing the fee schedule physicians can charge for treating a WC patient.  The bill is awaiting the Governor’s signature before becoming law, tentatively effective 1/1/2025. A link to a copy of the bill is below, along with a link to an article on the changes.   The Florida fee […]

Greetings, I had a few questions recently about claimant’s collecting Unemployment benefits while claiming lost wages in Florida WC.     Florida has returned to its pre-Covid level of Unemployment benefits (UE).   2024 Claim Maximums: 12 weeks The Florida WC statute addresses how UE is handled when claiming TTD/TPD in 440.15(10) (statute below).  Your employer should have […]

Greetings, I have received a few questions about what impact the US Dept Of Labor’s new rule on Independent Contractors will have on FL Workers’ Comp.  The DOL’s rule was released on 1/10/24, and goes into effect on 3/11/24, a link to the press release and the actual rule are at the bottom. The DOL […]

Greetings, Last week the Florida 1st DCA issued a long-awaited ruling regarding claimant’s attorney fees in Rudolph v. Darrien Smith/Home Depot, 1D2022-1627. https://1dca.flcourts.gov/content/download/1679907/opinion/Opinion_2022-1627.pdf The crux of the case was when can a JCC award hourly fees instead of the guideline fee, if the JCC finds the guideline fee to be too high. In Smith, the […]

Greetings, Sometimes, it can be difficult to obtain medical records and DWC-25’s timely from doctors’ offices so we can ensure we are following the work status and not creating over or underpayments.  Well, the FL WC statute (along with the Dept of Financial Services regulations) does give you some guidance on how you can encourage […]

Greetings, An issue comes up when there is a gap in treatment, resulting in a gap in indemnity benefits.   The most common gaps I see are: From a pure technical claims handling standpoint, you do not owe the indemnity during any of these gaps IF that is all the evidence/information you have at that point. […]

Greetings and Happy New Year, I have been asked to do a refresher on responding to PFB’s.  (For those of you that want more details, we do offer a CEU that we can present on this topic). Here are a few key things to remember: Of note, you can file an amended PFB response within […]

Greetings, DOAH (Division of Administrative Hearings) just published their annual report, and it is a great study of where WC is today in Florida.  Below is a link to the report, but do not hit print unless you have a spare ream of paper just laying around, it is 282 pages. The study covers DOAH’s […]

Greetings,  a few year-end news, notes and reminders: “The maximum weekly compensation rate for work-related injuries and illnesses occurring on or after January 1, 2024 shall be $1,260.” https://www.myfloridacfo.com/docs-sf/workers-compensation-libraries/workers-comp-documents/bulletins/max-comp-rate-2024-information-bulletin.pdf That’s a $63 increase from 2023’s rate of $1,197.  This affects claims with a date of accident 1/1/24 or thereafter. For dates of accident from 10/1/2003 […]

Greetings, Tis the season…for WC injuries at Employer holiday events.   Compensable?  It depends. (This same analysis applies to all events throughout the year, not just holiday parties.) For an injury to be compensable from a recreational/social activity, two things must be true about the event: 440.092 (1) RECREATIONAL AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES.—Recreational or social activities are not […]