Florida employers have seen remarkable rate reductions in their workers' compensation premiums over the past six years — an average of some 65 percent total and counting. The premium drops are universally acknowledged to be a result of the 2003 major overhaul of the state's workers' compensation system.

A new report from the Florida Department of Financial Services Division of Workers' Compensation seeks to detail the impact of a specific portion of that reform package. The legislation (HB 50-A) provided for, among other things, significant changes to compensability requirements for workplace injuries and illnesses. The comprehensive analysis, Impact of the 2003 Workers' Compensation Reform (Senate Bill 50-A) – Compensability, notes that the bill "mandated greater specificity both for injuries and illnesses qualifying as compensable and the standards for evidence supporting those conditions."

The research brief offers a detailed analysis of specific pre- and post-reform data and addresses the central question of whether the HB 50-A's more stringent requirements resulted in fewer workers qualifying for benefits. The analysis notes that, "Because eligibility for benefits is determined at different points in the workers' compensation system, the question of whether fewer workers receive benefits resolves into other questions:

• Have the changes to compensability prompted carriers to deny cases more frequently?
• Are workers litigating denials of compensability more often?
• Has there been a change in the number of workers receiving benefits following a denial of compensability?"

In an effort to answer those questions, administrative databases from various state divisions were culled for statistics. Information came from the Division of Workers' Compensation, which maintains the state's integrated database of all information on lost-time cases and denied cases, and the Medical Data Warehouse, which gathers information on medical bills paid for lost-time and medical-only cases. Both divisions compile their data from mandatory carrier reports. Additionally, the study factored in litigation and petitions-for-benefits data from the Division of Administration Hearings.