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Businesses Gird For Workers Comp Rate Hike

Business groups are sounding the alarm about a proposed 17 percent hike in workers compensation insurance rates.

A consortium asked state regulators for the increase, estimating it would cost state businesses a combined 623 million dollars. Bill Herrle, executive director of the National Federation of Independent Business in Florida, calls it a hidden tax.

“That’s just unsustainable for many independent business owners. So NFIB is seeking answers that we can bring before the Legislature and we are making known that this is a very dire threat to Florida’s economy.”

Workers compensation is the health insurance program that pays for on-the-job injuries. The rate request was prompted by a recent Florida Supreme Court ruling invalidating the system’s method for compensating attorneys. If Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation approves the request, the rates could take effect August 1st.

A Miami native, former WFSU reporter Jim Ash is an award-winning journalist with more than 20 years of experience, most of it in print. He has been a member of the Florida Capital Press Corps since 1992.