NCCI Proposes 1% Workers' Comp Rate Cut

Source: Lobby Tools  Morning Edition for Tuesday (9/3/24)

The National Council on Compensation Insurance, or NCCI, is proposing a 1% drop in workers' compensation insurance rates starting Jan. 1, 2025, citing a "healthy" workers' compensation system despite elevated consumer inflation. The NCCI said that factors such as decreasing claims frequency and stable benefit costs relative to wage growth have helped keep system costs low, noting that while "consumer inflation has been elevated, the inflation for workers' compensation medical costs remained stable." Businesses have consistently experienced declining workers' compensation rates in recent years, with a 15.1% rate decrease in 2024 and an 8.4% decrease in 2023. But earlier this year, lawmakers passed and Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bipartisan bill (SB 362) aimed at increasing the number of providers willing to treat workers' compensation patients by boosting reimbursement rates. Slated to take effect on Jan. 1, the new law increases the pay doctors get to 175% of the Medicare rate, with surgeons qualifying for a maximum reimbursement rate of 210%. The measure also boosts reimbursement rates for medical expert witnesses who testify in workers' compensation cases. NCCI said that without the new law, its proposed overall rate decrease would have been 6.4%. The state Office of Insurance Regulation will review the proposal and could require changes. NCCI / Florida Chamber Press Release / The Capitolist / First Coast News