Florida Workers' Compensation A Mess

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by: adviatech
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Injured workers needing the assistance of a qualified attorney to pursue a claim find themselves in a sticky situation. Their lawyers are only eligible for contingency and not hourly fees.

In addition a 2003 Workers' Compensation Reform report also suggests attorneys not be paid fees and costs for appealing an adverse medical decision unless the appeal is successful. The ramifications of this for injured workers are horrendous.

Florida's workers' compensation rates have been sky rocketing out of control leaving the state in the unenviable position of having the highest rates in the nation but the lowest payments for injured workers.

The commission who put the reform report together fingered fraud; employer's reluctance to rehire injured workers, difficulties with medical treatment and payment, a dearth of safety programs and extended litigation over disputes as being the major problems with the system.

Some of the recommendations make sense and have worker's best interests at heart, but the change in fee structure is going to cause major heartaches. While having quicker decisions on medical benefits is laudable, the manner the report suggests getting to that goal has some significant problems.

The matter of attorney's fees is highly troubling. The report indicated litigation was a significant cost in the system and yet was needed as an incentive to pay claims promptly. Their solution was limiting attorney's fees to a contingency basis and eliminating the hourly fee provision outlined in the statute.

The crux of the problem with this change is that it will effectively eliminate legal representation for smaller cases and minor issues. Smaller cases and minor issues are the bulk of workers' compensation cases. For instance, let's say an insurance carrier wrongly denies an injured worker the costs of an $850 MRI.

Sorting this issue out could take the attorney up to 30 hours or more to get the test approved by a compensation judge. The new law would limit the attorney's payment to 20 percent of the $850. The fact is attorneys are not going to take a case and work those kinds of hours for that kind of payment.

There is also another revision in the claims process that will seriously affect lawyers. The report suggested physician review panels that would review doctor's decisions. It further suggested no costs and fees be given to the injured worker's lawyer unless/until the worker successfully appeals an adverse ruling by the review panel.

The other area of concern is a two-tier process/panel on indemnity issues – one level would be for simple complaints, the other for more difficult ones. Again, if a worker wanted to appeal these decisions the lawyers would not get fees or costs unless the appeal was successful.

It is already the law that attorney's for injured workers do not win anything if they lose an appeal. This extra layer of bureaucratic interference would not help expedite the process, not to mention bloat the system for no good reason.

The reforms are not a cause for celebration for lawyers whose passion is helping injured workers settle their claims. It is against the spirit of most legal practices whose main goal is to serve their clients and not the system.

This may change in the near future. Currently there is a case before the Florida courts that will decide whether or not the current discriminatory attorney fee policy of the statute is unconstitutional.

About the Author

Tony Francis is an Orlando personal injury lawyer. His practice specializes in being an Orlando accident lawyer helping innocent victims get compensation for their losses. To learn more, visit Francislawgroup.com.