Divided Senate approves House workers' comp bill

Trial lawyers just lost and businesses won, when a divided Senate agreed 22-16 to the House proposal dealing with workers’ compensation rates.

HB 903, crafted in response to a 2008 Florida Supreme Court ruling, maintains the attorney fee caps and ban on hourly rates that have been in place since 2003. Lawmakers established the 2003 cap because Florida at the time had the highest workers’ compensation insurance rates in the nation, and the rates have gone down since then. The Florida Supreme Court in October rules against the caps.

Senators opposed to the House version warned Friday that it does nothing to address the Florida high court’s concerns, and is likely to be ruled unconstitutional.

“If the House version passes, there’s a good chance the whole system may crash,” said Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton. “And if it is ruled unconstitutional, we will be back here again dealing with this.”

They also argued the caps make attorneys reluctant to represent workers because the attorneys cannot get fair rates for the work they do.

“The difference between the House version and the Senate version is, one is humane and one is inhumane,” said Sen. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach. “The House seeks to diminish workers’ compensation rates by preventing workers from getting any kind of advocacy.”

Comments

[Proud Conservative]

Thank you Senate!

[wes b.]

This must be struck down.It is unconstitutional.
If the Senate wants to limit legal fees
they must do so to both sides.
Legal fees are only paid to the workers attorney,when its found that the insurance company did not follow the law.If they do not follow the law,they deserve to pay the same fee as their own lawyer.
If fee structures are done equally I doubt as many injured workers will be wronged by the Insurance Company.
Many republicans love the anti-attorney rhetoric about "trial lawyers" but has anyone noticed the insurance company lawyers are never disparaged by them?
The ability to sue when wronged is a constitutional right,(7th amendment)
and this amendment is just as powerful as the second amendment.Why are they treated differently by republicans?
Any Politician willing to stomp on the seventh amendment just to appease big business interests over the interests of an injured worker,that is no less a citizen just because he is an employee rather then an employer.
VOTE OUT THE ANTI-CONSTITUTIONALIST

[Proud Constituent]

Thank you Rep. Flores for bringing this good bill forward and fighting for it all the way!

[proud supporter]

Go Flores... someone who has no fear to stand up to the trial attorneys!

[5:47,6:53=same person]

Just so you know;whats the difference between trial lawyers that work for an injured worker and a trial lawyer that works for an insurance company?
Do you know that the insurance company does not have to pay if they followed all the rules don't you?
If you want to reduce legal fees write laws the insurance company won't be so eager to break,that would kill 95% of trial lawyers costs.
Or do you just hate workers and only like the constitutional rights that Limbaugh tells you to?

[Jason Straight]

Shame on you GOP pigs..Keep killing the right of working Floridians and you will be gone!

[Sound fair?]

"The ability to sue when wronged is a constitutional right,(7th amendment)"

Then it needs to be a "loser pays" system. The loser pays court and attorney fees for both sides.

[yes]

8:55-

I agree...you can't just throw crap against the wall and hope it sticks...

[Citizens rights]

8:55,9:00,heck yes Sounds good but you do mean if both sides get paid the same, rather then limiting only the injured workers attorneys fees,which is what we have right now.May I add that has been correctly ruled unconstitutional.
The system the way it is right now,if the adjuster followed the book,dotted all the
I's and crossed all the T's they do not pay,they only pay if found at fault.
The biggee is,if they have someone who makes good money its worth it for them to stretch out treatment,disallow treatment as the adjuster is held harmless.
I am sure most are not aware the adjuster is held harmless and if an injured worker needs to go to a Dr even if he is paying him/herself,the adjuster must approve or the Dr will not,can not by law see the injured worker,that along with the extremely limited pay rate for lawyers explains why so many now wind up on medicaid and food stamps,when it should be the insurance company who pays instead of fl citizens.Many can not wait the years it takes to get treatment,shouldn't this be against the law? Its done daily You should see the work comp treatment mills,have a translator with you if you only speak english.
This is not something injured workers can fight,do you have any idea how much money the insurance companies give to these politicians? The insurance companies wrote this current law.
If more people knew what many injured workers go through this would not be law for long.Any person that allows treatment of our working citizens like this either has no heart at all,or has never met an injured worker that had a bad adjuster.

[Jason Straight]

A conservative proud..!This is not a conservative bill its a sell out of working folk to the insurance piggies!

[Jason Straight]

Floridians lost and insurance cos won.Obama is pres and Bush and neocons lost you git the message yet boys~

[Jon]

This bill is disgusting. It only limits what the attorney representing the worker can get paid. Insurance companies are now free to deny benefits, knowing that there are few consequences to doing so. And, guess what, the insurance company has no limits on what their attorneys can get paid. So now you have one side (the injured worker) with an attorney who can not litigate the claim and the other side (insurance companies) with all the money at their disposal to deny benefits, and take a case to court, knowing that the other side can not afford it.

For those of you who are stupid enough to think this is a good bill, imagine if it was your son or daughter, your mom or husband who was the hurt person who had his treatment denied by the insurance company.

Veto this bill Governor Crist, and prove you represent all Floridians, not just the moneyed interests of the insurance lobby.

[Proud Conservative]

Trial lawyers got this a** kicked. The people of the state won but no worries. They will find some new ambulance to chase and someone new to sue.

[Jim]

No proud conservative,only half the trial lawyers lost.The trial lawyers that work for the insurance companies are no matter how you try to avoid the issue,are still TRIAL lawyers.
There are other similarities,
both work when an adjuster does not follow the rules,they both work when an adjuster disallows medical treatment.
When an adjuster is found to have wrongly withheld medical treatment,she is patted on their back.
When an injured worker is found to have broken the rules,he/she can go to jail.
This is not only unconstitutional as well as immoral,I can only hope perhaps someone close to you goes through the wrath of an adjuster looking for a bonus and realize,they hold all the cards,your friend,the working american citizen? They hold none,at least until the fl supreme court strikes this down again as unconstitutional,which it is.

[Samantha]

This is not a loss for the "trial lawyers". It is a loss for the working people of this state.

Do you guys not realize that now insurance companies are free to deny medical care, knowing that if a Judge finds they were wrong there are no penalties? The penalty used to be having to pay the other side's legal fees.

Wake up guys. This is just a handout to insurance companies. One side now holds all the money and decision making power. The other side (the injured worker) is now unable to pay a lawyer to represent them in court. This bill not only limits what an insurance company has to pay the worker's lawyer - It also makes it illegal for the injured worker to pay their own attorney.

You guys just got hosed.

[Gregg]

Is it true that this bill only limits what a worker can pay their lawyer, but places no limits on how much the insurance company can pay their own attorney?

Talk about an uneven playing field. I can't believe people support this kind of legislation that only ends up hurting them to benefit insurance companies.

Keep in mind - the only way the attorney would have ever gotten paid to start with was if a Judge finds that the insurance company denied a benefit it should have provided all along! If insurance companies were so worried about fees, maybe they should not go around denying benefits that are rightfully due!

[Equalizer]

Good to see the blood suckers get hit where it counts. Trial lawyers need to go build something, make something, do something that is actually productive and requires some sweat.

Sure there is a positive role for lawyers to play in society but they have long ago stepped over that line.

This is good news for Floridians who have to work in the real world to take care of their families. If employers are hesitant about doing business in Florida we all lose, if trial lawyers cannot rip off the system trial lawyers lose. They need to be more patriotic and just take this for the working people.

[Gregg]

Dear Equalizer:

You're an idiot. Learn a little about the bill to find out why. This bill is definitely not good news for Florida's workers. It stacks the deck against them.

Here's the basics: It limits what the attorney of an injured worker can charge, but places no limits on what the defense attorney working for the insurance company can get paid. So the insurance company has unlimited attorney time and the injured worker has a difficult time getting a lawyer.

Learn the facts before opening your big yapper.

[work comp lawyer]

Everyone in the workers' compensation system, insurance adjusters, their lawyers and even the Judges of Compensation will privately admit that the law passed in 2003 is unfair to injured workers and sometimes results in terrible injustice. The one equalizer was the willingness of the Claimant's lawyers to pursue the litigation and expenses in exchange for, what the Florida Supreme Court refers to a "reasonable fee" in proving the defense wrongly denied medical treatment or lost wages. The insurance and business lobby has effectively eliminated an injured workers' ability to challenge bad faith denials of claims. While this law, if upheld, will indeed move me and other workers' advocates to other areas of practice, the losers are individual Floridians who will have little ability to fight insurance decisions that will cost them there house, car and and in many cases,their health. Think I am biased? Call any adjuster or defense attorney who routinely handles these cases.

[Another Lawyer]

I am a work comp lawyer, and can say without a doubt that everyone knows this bill is a joke and unfair.

The bill limits what the lawyer for the injured workers can earn, but not the attorney for the insurance company.

It used to be that if one of you gets hurt and a benefit is wrongly denied (which happens often), you could get an attorney who would be paid ONLY if he wins at trial. That is, if he proves that the insurance company owed the benefit. He would be paid by the hour, just like the insurance company's lawyer. The insurance company's lawyer gets paid either way - win or lose - by the insurance company.

Now, with this law, the insurance company attorney still gets paid - but the attorney for the injured worker has his fees capped and limited when he wins. That is, even if he proves that the insurance company was wrong all along in denying you a benefit (surgery, medicines, etc), he still does not get paid more than a total fee of $1,500, which is $150 per hour for 10 hours. It does not matter if the case took 35 hours or 50 or 100. The most your lawyer can be paid is $1,500. The bill does not limit what a defense attorney for the insurance company gets paid - he can be paid by the hour for the entire time the case is open and litigated.

Why does this bill limit one side and not the other? Simple - the purpose of the bill is to allow the insurance companies to deny benefits without consequence. Now, they can deny benefits, knowing that most hurt workers will not be able to get attorneys. And if you are able to get an attorney and win, the insurance company is limited in what it has to pay your lawyer. The insurance company now has an incentive to deny benefits and drag out litigation, knowing I will not take a case that involves that many hours for that capped fee.

This bill is horrible, and Crist should veto it.

[Injured worker]

I am going through a night mare.What many say here is very true and I notice the only posters that are accurate are the posters that have experience with workers comp.The rest of the posters seem to just hate workers.
The Dr I had to go to has a workers comp only practice and everything they do is based around saving money not whats best for the injured worker.Even though you are supposed to be able to change dr's adjuster told me get a lawyer.I have a ruptured disc and was not getting treated for it because i could not perform the "light duty" at the dog pound scooping poop.The adjuster asked that I only scoop and other jobs there were not open to me even though they had openings,poop scooping broke my restrictions.i was then cut off and the next week i was given 2 separate medical releases.One stated i was released to full duty,the other stated i was still restricted no twisting bending lifting etc.guess which one the adjuster took.
I tried to go to a couple different Dr's and was told they wouldn't see me,my own money was no good because the adjuster had the authority to not allow me to see a dr for this ailment until i signed off,the adjuster controlled my NOT going to dr.I received 7 thousand bucks even though I was owed a year and a half of pay,I made $925 a week so my comp checks were 2/3's of that,I was owed a lot of money.
All through this i was in touch with the ombudsman's office which is supposed to take place of lawyer,they agreed with me but said that adjuster is a nasty one,she was/is.they could not do anything even though they tried very hard,i thank them for their kind words and help.
I am now on medicaid and I am going to have to go on SS disability.I dont want to and i have been a hard worker all my life.
I never knew,I cant believe crap like this goes on in america.Its unbelievable.
My ruptured disc cant be operated on,maybe if I had this dr i now have and maybe if they did MRI this disc wouldnt have got so bad.Maybe,maybe,maybe.
I did write my representative as well as state senator and governor.
The governor referred me to ombudsman office,the senator and rep both sent me
news letters.thanx, cretul and dean,they didnt care enough to even read my email.
As adamant as republicans are about health care being citizens choice i thought they would require good treatment and choices for american workers.i wish state insurance was the same as work comp,it wouldnt last a day and adjusters would be jailed.
PS,i am sorry to the citizens now paying my medical through medicaid,i thought the insurance company should have to pay also.My pride? I have none
My aflac? Heck,didnt get a dime from them either because it was work comp.

[mad moderate]

equilizer,are you talking about far right extremists in media? Tell me when is the last time your political and moral leader
limbaugh "worked",or perspired,(man love excluded).What has he ever produced?What has he ever built? This will hurt the republicans this next election because this will be determined to be un-constitutional again.
I don't think the voters will give law makers,so willing to break the constitution twice any more public money i/e paycheck.
Unemployment and workers comp,both considered by republicans as evil "handouts" even both are funded through the labor of the very workers targeted as handout recipients.
I have built,I have produced,I am the typical working middle class American.
I demand rights equal to that given to insurance companies by our republicans!

[Wallace Hardy]

I am a mediator in workers' compensation cases. This bill does not solve the problem of abuses in the system. They occur in actions by some attorneys, some claimants and some insurance adjusters. This bill will allow adjusters to continue to deny benefits that the injured worker should be receiving with no significant consequences. It will discourage representation of all by the most severely injured workers. It may result in a finding that the bill is unconstitutional which may invalidate the entire workers' compensation chapter, resulting in a return to a previous law which will be very expensive for small busineeses as insurance companies raise rates to compensate for increased options to injured workers and an increase in findings of permanent total disability for certain workers. It is a short-sighted attempt to give business the upper hand at the expense of legitimately injured workers.

[tony turner]

I can only hope Equalizer ends up in the w/c system.

[Insurance Executive]

This topic is covered well on insuranceexecutiveblog.com

Let's clean up some inaccurate info about this bill in prior posts:

1. Plaintiff (workers') attorneys are not limited in what they can get paid. They are limited in what they can force the insurance company to pay them. They can charge whatever they want to the person who hires them, just like insurance company attorneys.
2. Insurance company attorneys have no opportunity to force workers' attorneys to pay for any of their expenses, even if the workers' case is frivolous. Workers' attorneys under this bill can always get the other side to pay them something.
3. There are no limitations to sue.
4. Attorney payments are proportional to the amount awarded to the injured worker, just like in every other form of tort law.
5. Prior to this bill, attorneys were often awarded a value significantly in excess of the amount awarded to the injured worker. This appears like the injured worker came out worst.
6. As to who won and who lost, yes, the insurers won, yes the trial lawyers lost (actually, only the ones who expected a payment higher than the injured worker). No, the workers didn't lose. Their benefits remain unchanged.
7. Oh yeah, every business that has employees won, their insurance rates went down. Maybe some workers won too (by having their employer be able to keep their jobs).

[Ken]

IE...

You lost your credibility on your first point immediately. Plaintiff (workers') attorneys ARE limited in what we can get paid. Other attorneys are limited by the rules of the FLorida Bar in regards to contingencies, 33% of recovery or 40% post suit. Furthermore, attorneys in other areas can negotiate hourly fee arrangements to retainers, that is they have freedom to contract with their clients.

Let'e abstain from discussing the "employer paid attorney fee" limitations in the big, this law not only limits that, it restricts claimant attorneys to a schedule of 20%/15%/10% on contingency. If we try and negotiate anything else with our clients, we are liable CRIMINALLY. If I negotiate a settlement on a car accident for 50K and charge a standard 33% contingency to my client, he or she pays me $16,600, no judicial approval necessary.

In workers comp, where I probably put in twice as many hours to obtain to the same settlement, my fee is $5750, plus it must be approved by a judge.

[The Truth]

Dear Insurance Executive:

1) Injured worker's attorneys ARE limited in what they get paid both by the insurance company and their own clients. They are capped by law from what they charge their clients at a lot less than the 33% personal injury attorney's charge. They usually get about 15% of a settlement. And the legislature has made it a crime - yeah, a crime - to collect anything more from the client. Look it up.

2. Insurance company attorneys DO have the right to have a Judge make an injured worker pay their costs if the case is frivolous or if the injured worker loses. Look it up.

3. There are plenty of limitations to sue. An injured worker can not sue for pain or suffering. An injured worker can not sue the employer directly for most negligence. Look it up.

4. The fee schedule paid to the attorney's of injured workers is a lot less than other attorneys at settlement. It is capped at about 15%. And as previously mentioned, it is against the law for the injured worker to pay more even if he or she wants to. Look it up.

5. Prior to this bill, the attorney for the injured worker was paid by the insurance company for the amount of time he spent on the case if he won it for the injured worker. It did not affect in any way the benefits the injured worker got since the fee was paid by the insurance carrier. Look it up.

You know what, I'm just going to stop there because if you don't even bother to know what you are talking about before logging on and calling yourself an "insurance executive" then you really dont deserve a full response.

It's appalling how wrong you are and how sure of yourself you seem. Talk to any attorney - or anyone unfortunate enough to be in the middle of a workers compensation claim - and you will verify that everything I said is 100% true. Look it up.

[Martindale H.]

This is pathetic. It is so sad to see people not rise up against this blatant abuse of injured workers. In the past, I represented insurance companies in workers' compensation cases. Under the system the Legislature/Republicans/insurance companies want to take us back to, I would bill $10,000, $20,000.00 even $30,000.00 on a case while the injured worker's attorney would make $1,000.00, if that sometimes. It's unfair and I saw too many injured workers get stomped on by this system.

And yet nobody cares. Of course, I am sure our fearless Governor will take a real stand on this issue....CRICKETS.