New study on essential workers
We will be starting the new year of 2021 with lower workers’ compensation insurance rates here in the Sunshine State. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has approved a statewide overall decrease of 6.6% for new and renewal policies effective on January 1. The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), which represents about 250 Florida carriers, had originally sought a 5.7% decrease. Following an October rate hearing, OIR required a further reduction.
This is the fourth consecutive year that workers’ comp rates have fallen in Florida. NCCI credited declining claims frequency and severity, and greater underwriting discipline in its filing. So far, NCCI reports that the current coronavirus pandemic is having little impact on rate pressure, noting that most COVID-19 workers’ comp claims are small.
A recent study by the Harvard University School of Public Health shows just how prevalent COVID-19 may be among some essential workers. The study was based on a single grocery store in Boston, Massachusetts in May, and found “an alarming infection rate” among the workers tested. Of the 104 workers tested, 20% were positive for COVID-19 with 76% of those asymptomatic at the time of testing. Employees with direct customer exposure were five times more likely to test positive for COVID-19. There’s also a potential mental health impact, too. Of those workers who tested positive, 24% reported at least mild anxiety and 8% with at least mild depression.
Meanwhile, the Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation is out with the new maximum weekly workers’ compensation rate for 2021. The new rate, based on the statewide average weekly wage paid by employers from June 2019 to June 2020, is $1,011 and will be the maximum paid for all work-related injuries and illnesses occurring on or after January 1, 2021.
LMA Newsletter of 12-14-20
