The current definition of “attendant care,” which is not significantly different than in past versions of the statute, is as follows: Florida Statute 440.13(1)(b). “Attendant care” means care rendered by trained professional attendants which is beyond the scope of household duties. Family members may provide nonprofessional attendant care, but may not be…
Florida Statute 440.02(1), which is contained in the definitions section of Florida’s workers’ compensation system, defines “Accident” as “an unexpected or unusual event or result that happens suddenly.” Can an injury resulting from an event that is not unexpected or unusual be compensable under Florida’s workers’ compensation system? Yes. In Bryant v. David…
Florida’s workers’ compensation system has two distinct time bars for filing petitions to seek benefits. Most people are at least vaguely aware of one of the concepts, known as the statute of limitations (SOL). Florida’s workers’ compensation SOL is enunciated in section 440.19, Florida Statutes. The other time bar is laid out in Florida…
Individuals receiving Florida workers’ compensation benefits for serious medical conditions must give deep thought and consideration to the role of Medicare in their future medical plans. This is especially so for those who are eligible or soon to be eligible for Medicare. Because workers’ compensation has primary responsibility [for covering medical care associated with work-related injuries] versus Medicare’s secondary…
This previous blog — Florida Workers’ Compensation Permanent Total Disability (PTD) and the Social Security Disability (SSD) Offset — explains how workers’ compensation benefits and Social Security Disability benefits can offset each other. Today’s blog explains what happens when the workers’ compensation case settles. Federal law (42 U.S.C sec. 424a) and…
The following editorial was published on January 16, 2018, in the Tampa Bay Times newspaper. It is fair and balanced. ***************************** Editorial: Balancing the playing field for workers’ compensation For the longest time, injured workers in Florida were basically at the mercy of the whims of employers to treat them…
Section 440.15(4)(e) of the Florida Statutes provides as follows: “If the employee is terminated from postinjury employment based on the employee’s misconduct, temporary partial disability benefits are not payable as provided for in this section.” Simple enough, right? Not necessarily. For starters, 440.15(4)(e) is qualified by section 440.02(18), which provides in…
Workers’ compensation claimants have the burden of showing that the workplace accident is the major contributing cause of an injury. Section 440.09(1), Florida Statutes (2017). Major contributing cause, or MCC, means the cause which is more than 50 percent responsible for the injury as compared to all other causes combined for…
Florida law grants workers’ compensation insurance companies the exclusive authority to control the selection of the injured worker’s treating medical providers. Section 440.13(2), Florida Statutes (2017). This leads to carriers repeatedly selecting providers with a track record of siding with them. Thankfully, the authority is not unbridled. One of the main restrictions concerns the proximity of the…
Florida’s experience with crafting workers’ compensation legislation is a case study in the danger of accepting without challenge the statements of insurance industry lobbyists. One after the other during Florida’s last legislative session (March – May, 2017), insurance industry lobbyists stood before committees of elected officials and made baseless comments for the simple purpose of increasing insurance company profits, without…