The amount paid out for medical payments, per claim, under workers’ compensation decreased by five per cent in Florida for 2020. That bucked a recent trend that had seen costs rising every year, and experts are pointing at COVID as the likely culprit. The Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) released new data that showed medical payments per claim had been rising in the years before the pandemic. Between 2015 and 2019, payments rose four to five per cent per year. “The recent decreases in medical payments per claim in Florida and many other states reflect some impact from the COVID-19 pandemic, such as postponed or avoided medical care due to concerns about COVID-19, temporary suspensions of non-emergency surgeries during the early months of the pandemic and declined usage of hospital care because of limitations to conserve hospital capacity,” said Ramona Tanabe, executive vice-president and counsel for WCRI. Click here to read more.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – This was it, he told his brother Jojo. He would finally be able to pay his mother back for the fender bender, buy some new shoes and, if things went well, maybe even start a life with his fiancee who was living in Atlanta. After getting his high school diploma, completing federal job training and sending out dozens of applications, Day Davis, 21, got a job. It was through a temp agency and didn’t pay very much, but he would be working at the Bacardi bottling plant, making the best-selling rum in the world. Click here to read more

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited The Roof Authority Inc. of Fort Pierce for one willful and one serious safety violation following an August 2013 inspection at a job site on North Palm-Aire Drive in Pompano Beach. OSHA conducted its inspection as part of the agency's regional emphasis program for falls in construction. Proposed penalties total $59,290. Click here to read more:

Timeliness is an issue worthy of attention. In October, the Florida First District Court of Appeal (DCA) decided Matheny, v. Indian River Fire Rescue. An employer prevailed at trial and the injured worker filed an appeal. The Court concluded that the appeal was not timely. Click here to read more:

In September, there was a rare exception in the national news. The story caught my eye and it's national coverage surprised me. It involved a fall down the stairs in 1986 up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Yes, that is almost 30 years ago; this accident has become old enough to vote, to drink and to have kids. Click here to read more:

If it doesn't work, is it fraud? If the result of some accident turns out to not be an injury, is it fraud to visit the doctor to find that out? Click here to read more:

An employer/carrier is faced with a decision when a workers’ compensation claim is reported in Florida. It can 1) pay benefits 2) deny the claim or 3) pay benefits while investigating and reserve its right to deny the claim within 120 days without prejudice and without admitting liability pursuant to Florida Statute 440.20(4). This article will focus on what triggers the 120 period, how certain actions or inactions impact the employer/carriers’ rights, and what to do if you make a mistake. Click here to read more:

The coming judgment day, may mean a change in the way Florida's economy looks. It may be an outcome loved by some, or loved by none. It is very difficult to predict. The Florida Supreme Court has demonstrated that it is willing to find a way, perhaps not different from the manner in which water that falls on the plains inevitably, inexorably, finds a way to reach to the sea. Florida has watched several cases challenge the sufficiency of workers' compensation. Click here to read more: