Comparison of

Two* Votes

For and Against SB50A
by two Florida representatives

Thank you for contacting my office regarding your concerns with the Workers’ Compensation bill.

As you probably already know, the bill passed the House of Representatives by a 81-34 vote and the Senate by a 25-14 vote. I voted against the bill.

Psychiatric Impairment - The bill severely limits (only 6 months of benefits) compensability for mental and nervous injuries, making it more difficult for an injured worker to qualify for benefits. It fails to recognize that a police officer who is shot or a convenient store clerk who is raped often suffers a very real and many times disabling psychiatric injury.

Toxic Exposure - The bill makes it more difficult for an injured worker to receive workers’ compensation benefits if they were exposed to toxic substances.

Catastrophic/PTD - The bill changes the standards for what is considered a Permanent Total Disability (PTD), if its determined by the employer or an insurance carrier, that the worker is capable of sedentary work (doing or requiring much sitting) within a 50-mile radius of their home.

Average Weekly Wage - The bill reduces benefits for injured workers by changing the percentage of total hours worked (from 90% to 75%) that’s used to calculate their “average weekly wage.”

IME’s - The bill reduces the number of Individual Medical Exams (IME’s) from one per medical specialty to one per accident – this takes away the benefit of having an IME for each problem area.

Expert Advisors - The bill requires a requesting party to pay for the cost of an “expert medical advisor.” If the injured worker prevails the carrier would pay, but most injured workers aren’t able to pay this cost upfront.

Supplemental Impairment Benefits - Supplemental Impairment benefits are a cost of living adjustment for persons who are permanently and totally disabled. Under the current law, this COLA ceases at age 62 if the person is eligible for social security benefits. This bill cuts off these benefits at age 62, unless the employee’s injury prevented them from working sufficient quarters to be eligible for social security benefits.

Rate Rollback - The bill is suppose to produce lower premiums for employers, yet there is nothing in the bill that requires insurance companies to lower rates to reflect the savings this bill achieves on the backs of injured workers. It fails to guarantee that rates will go down and doesn’t even guarantee that rates won’t go up.

Once again, thank you for sharing your views and concerns with me. If you would like information on other issues or would like to share additional comments with me, please feel free to contact me. I look forward to hearing from you in the future.

With warm regards,
(Name deleted)

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Thank you for contacting me regarding your concerns about the workers' compensation bills considered by the 2003 Legislature.

Protecting Florida's workers is of the utmost importance to me, because it is an important safeguard for the men and women who make our economy strong. They must be able to have the assistance they need to heal as quickly as possible and return to their jobs.

Florida's small businesses make up 90 percent of all businesses in the state, and they have been faced with a crisis in workers' compensation: increasing rates and a shrinking pool of available insurers. Reform was necessary. The compromise position reached by the Legislature is expected to provide at least $425 million, or more than 14 percent, in cost savings for Florida's employers, according to the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI).

For Florida's workers, the bill:
-- Increases permanent partial disability (PPD) impairment benefits by 50 percent while eliminating eligibility of PPD recipients for supplemental benefits;
-- Increases funeral and death benefits by 50 percent; and
-- Provides for awareness of no-cost safety consultation programs and requires participation by all employers covered by the Joint Underwriting Association.

For Florida's businesses, this bill:
-- Provides an affordable safety net to small businesses and nonprofits that cannot obtain coverage from traditional carriers; and
-- Makes voluntary binding arbitration of disputes available when agreed to by the injured worker and carrier, limits attorneys' payments to the fee schedule in current law, and significantly narrows the existing exceptions to the attorney fee schedule.

For Florida's construction industry specifically, the bill:
-- Reduces costs amounting to an additional four percent in savings for the construction industry, providing the potential for economic expansion and additional job creation;
-- Restores the pre-2002 exemption law for the construction industry and limits exemptions after January 1, 2004, to three corporate officers who each own at least 10 percent of the corporation; and
-- Provides for "horizontal immunity," assuring that one subcontractor is not sued for the negligence of another subcontractor.

To prevent fraud, the bill:
-- Increases the penalties for fraud;
-- Increases the power to monitor compliance; -- Increases the fines for non-compliance; and
-- Increases coverage standards for conditions that are subject to abuse.

Notwithstanding all of these things, workers' compensation is an area of our law that I will continue to review and monitor. It is my hope that eventually, our law will be the best combination of benefits to workers and protection to business.

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact me with your views and concerns. I value your opinion and found your comments helpful as my colleagues and I sought to find the best solutions to the challenges facing our state.

If I can be of assistance to you in the future, please do not hesitate to contact me. It is my honor and pleasure to serve you in the Florida House of Representatives.

Sincerely,
(Name deleted)

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Thank you for contacting my office regarding your concerns for Worker's
Compensation. I would like to take this opportunity to let you know why I did not
support this piece of legislation.

The Worker's Compensation bill will serve to keep workers out of our State's
workforce.

It slashes over $360 million in benefits for injured workers.
Florida already has the lowest worker's compensation benefits in the Country and
these cuts will be devastating for thousands of workers and their families.

It would make it almost impossible for injured workers to obtain the legal
representation they are entitled to and deserve for compensations cases. They may
have access to legal representation, but no financial means to retain this
representation.

It makes it almost impossible for workers who have suffered a
catastrophic injury to be eligible for disability benefits and does nothing to help train workers for new jobs.

In addition, the bill does not guarantee lower premiums or the availability
of insurance for employers.

It does not help injured workers and in the long
run will place the burden of caring for these workers on our diminishing health care system and the taxpayers.

Again, thank you for contacting me. Your input is an important part on my
decision making on all issues. Please feel free to contact me if I can be of any
assistance.