CFO Says Lawmakers Should Consider Capping Defense Attorney Fees

Monday, January 22, 2018 | 0

State Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis says lawmakers should consider capping what insurance companies can pay their attorneys to defend against workers’ compensation claims.

CFO Jimmy Patronis

Patronis’ statement Thursday to the News Service of Florida came six days after the House on a Republican party-line vote passed HB 7009, which would limit claimants’ attorney fees to $150 an hour.

The bill now moves to the Senate, where Republicans hold a 23-15 majority over Democrats.

It would allow hourly or so-called “departure” fees, up to $150, outside of the statutory fee schedule if the total payment would amount to less than 40%, or greater than 125%, of the customary amount a defense attorney would have earned in the same locality.

“I think two-way attorney fees (restrictions) is a good debate to have,” Patronis told the News Service.

Patronis joins Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, in calling for limits on attorney fees.

“When I talk to employers, they don’t care if it’s plaintiffs’ fees or defense fees,” Negron said last week. “They only want to pay attorneys’ fees that are necessary in the system. We want them to be as low as possible across the board.”

HB 7009 also would implement other workers’ compensation reforms by:

• Requiring a good-faith effort by claimants and their attorneys to resolve disputes before filing a petition for benefits; eliminating carrier-paid attorney fees for services occurring before the filing of a petition; and attaching attorney fees 45 days, rather than 30 days, following the filing of a petition.
• Requiring the judge of compensation claims to dismiss a petition for lack of specificity, without prejudice, within 10 days or 20 days, depending upon whether a hearing is required.
• Eliminating the charge-based reimbursement of health care facility outpatient medical care, and setting reimbursement at 200% of Medicare for unscheduled care and 160% for scheduled surgeries. If no Medicare fee exists, current reimbursement standards would apply.