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The severity of workers' compensation claims are increasing at a higher rate in Florida than across the country, according to a report from Aon Risk Solutions. While the severity of claims is rising by 2 percent across the United States, in Florida, it is rising at about 3 percent a year and that rate could rise dramatically in the coming years. The state's workers' compensation system may undergo a big change on March 30, when Florida is set to appeal a 2014 decision that declared the system unconstitutional. Click here to read more:

One year ago when the Foreword to the 2014 Edition of Dubreuil’s Florida Workers’ Compensation Handbook (LexisNexis) was prepared we noted two significant cases being watched by the workers’ compensation community. Somewhat surprisingly both cases are still pending and are awaiting a decision by the Florida Supreme Court. The Court takes its annual recess in August and it is looking like decisions in both cases may not be forthcoming until later in 2015. Click here to read more:

In South Florida, investigators from the Florida Department of Financial Services are increasingly showing up on construction projects to investigate insurance fraud claims under the provisions of Chapter 440, Florida Statutes. These state agents have broad powers, including, but not limited to: entering a project site without a search warrant, questioning employees, requesting project records, and issuing stop work orders. Click here to read more:

Ten prominent Democratic lawmakers, including presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, are urging the U.S. secretary of labor to come up with a plan to ensure that state workers’ compensation programs are properly caring for injured workers. Click here to read more:

On November 3, 2015, the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) issued an order denying NCCI’s proposed 1.9% rate decrease and requested NCCI make an amended filing for an overall workers compensation rate level decrease of 5.1%, effective January 1, 2016. Click here to read more:

As an indication of the potential high stakes in a workers-compensation insurance case, some of the state's most influential business groups and the Florida League of Cities have been approved during the past week to file friend-of-the-court briefs with the state Supreme Court. The case, which stems from injuries suffered in 2003 by Hialeah Hospital nurse Daniel Stahl, challenges the constitutionality of the workers-compensation system. Click here to read more:

A Hialeah Hospital nurse hasn’t taken the necessary steps for the Florida Supreme Court to hear his challenge to provisions of the state’s workers’ compensation law, the hospital and its claims administrator argued, saying his constitutional claims don’t save his fight for benefits. Daniel Stahl has to bring a declaratory relief action before the state’s highest court can consider the constitutionality of the Florida Workers’ Compensation Act, the hospital and Sedgwick Claims Management Services — the third-party administrator of its self-insured workers' compensation program — contended Wednesday. Click here to read more:

Promising workers lower health insurance premiums for losing weight did nothing to help them take off the pounds, a recent study found. At the end of a year, obese workers had lost less than 1.5 pounds on average, statistically no different than the minute average gain of a tenth of a pound for workers who weren’t offered a financial incentive to lose weight. Click here to read more:

The Florida Department of Financial Services’ Division of Insurance Fraud (DIF) announced 10 arrests following a multi-agency undercover workers’ compensation sting in Manatee County. According to a statement from DIF, the 10 individuals allegedly advertised their ability to perform wide-ranging plumbing and electrical work without proper licenses or training, and without having workers’ compensation coverage to protect their employees in the event of an accident or injury. Click here to read more:

Three decades ago, the treatment Michele Zumwalt received for severe headaches involved a shot of the opioid Demerol. Very quickly, Zumwalt says, she would get headaches if she didn't get her shot. Then she began having seizures, and her doctor considered stopping the medication. "I didn't know I was addicted, but I just knew that it was like you were going to ask me to live in a world without oxygen," she says. "It was that scary." Click here to read more:

Nearly 13 years after lawmakers overhauled the state's workers-compensation insurance system, the Florida Supreme Court is poised to hear a legal challenge that could have major implications for businesses, insurers and injured workers. Click here to read more:

In July, I ran across Empara v. New Rochelle School District. A New York case that makes for an interesting reminder of finality and appellate jurisdiction. In Empara, an injured worker’s claim for benefits was litigated as so many are, in multiple hearings. Workers’ compensation has been referred to as “serial” meaning that cases can be presented in a series of hearings. This is due in part to the manner in which workers’ compensation statutes provide benefits in stages, each based on specific pre-requisites. It can also be a conscious decision of employers and employees. Click here to read more: