Rick Scott to Cut Fla. Workers' Comp Rates by 35%!

Friday, December 3, 2010 | 0

By Joe Paduda
CompPharma and Health Strategy Associates

WorkCompCentral's Mike Whiteley has the scoop [subscription required] of the month; he reported this morning Gov.-Elect Rick Scott of Florida has renewed his promise to cut employers' work comp costs by 35% .

(That was one of the lead lines I considered the other was "Is it April Fools?")

No, it's true. According to the article, in a speech last week, the new governor said "We also need serious tort reform, and a 35% reduction in workman's [sic] compensation costs."

Wow.

That's one ambitious guy! Another 35% on top of the 40% reduction most employers have seen since reform passed in 2003?

How's he going to do that? Let's see...

1.) Scott could immediately reduce the maximum maximum weekly wage basis to $0.00; or

2.) require all medical providers to treat work comp claimants for free, or maybe

3.) make workers' comp optional for employers while prohibiting suits against employers for occupational illnesses or injuries (that'd be part of his 'tort reform' plank...)

Short of those rather draconian measures, all of which would require a compliant Legislature and Senate, I'm not seeing where he's going to get another 35%.

I'm not the only one wondering, as Mike Whiteley reported on WCC; one local expert (Christopher Smith of Florida Workers' Advocates) said "It's our belief he's relying on information that's 10 years out of date. [emphasis added]...It appears to be based on some statistics that were advanced during the time running up to the 2003 changes."

Well, perhaps the soon-to-be Gov is going to ask the Senate to overturn his predecessor's veto of a bill reducing costs for physician dispensed drugs; perhaps but highly unlikely, as Scott reportedly convinced the new Florida Senate leader to not seek an override.

Here's how the Palm Beach Post described the...episode.

"Concerning the workers' comp prescriptions bill, Cannon first said the reason for his reversal was because Democrats had objected to the override and that he and Haridopolos had targeted measures that were non-controversial and had received unanimous or near-unanimous support during the regular session.

But he later conceded that a dispute among major Republican Party donors had foiled the override attempt planned for Tuesday.

"In the lobby corps there has emerged this debate and discussion and controversy. . . . If there's that much debate and disagreement, that's the type of thing that should be run through the entire committee process and should come back in regular session," Cannon said.

Associated Industries of Florida supported the bill, saying it could have saved private companies $34 million in workers' compensation costs, whereas the Florida Medical Association and the Florida Orthopedic Society supported the veto.

Also supporting the veto was Automated Healthcare Solutions, a Miramar-based company headed by a pair of doctors, Paul Zimmerman and Gerald Glass, who later gave more than $1 million to political spending committees headed by Haridopolos and Cannon.

The company provides software that helps doctors dispense and manage patient prescriptions, a profitable sidelight for many doctors.

After Scott's primary election victory, Zimmerman and Glass also contributed $735,000 to the Republican Party of Florida and $175,000 to Scott's political committee, according to The Miami Herald."

So, Scott may cut 35% from employers' workers' comp costs, but he's going to make them pay political contributors $34 million more than they would have.

Good luck with that...

Joe Paduda is co-owner of CompPharma, a consortium of pharmacy benefit managers, and owner of Health Stategy Associates, a Connecticut employer consulting firm. This column was reprinted with his permission from his blog, http://www.managedcarematters.com