Bill Text: FL S1580 | 2014 | Regular Session | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Workers' Compensation Cost Task Force

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (? 2-1)

Status: (Failed) 2014-05-02 - Died in Appropriations [S1580 Detail]

Download: Florida-2014-S1580-Comm_Sub.html

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       Florida Senate - 2014                      CS for CS for SB 1580
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Health Policy; and Banking and Insurance;
       and Senator Hays
       
       
       
       
       588-04044B-14                                         20141580c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the Workers’ Compensation Cost Task
    3         Force; amending s. 440.13, F.S.; creating the Workers’
    4         Compensation Cost Task Force; providing for
    5         membership; providing duties; requiring the task force
    6         to submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature
    7         by a specified date; requiring the Office of Insurance
    8         Regulation to consult with the Workers’ Compensation
    9         Cost Task Force to prepare a report; requiring the
   10         report to be delivered to the task force and the
   11         Legislature by specified dates; providing an
   12         expiration date; providing an effective date.
   13          
   14  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   15  
   16         Section 1. Subsection (17) is added to section 440.13,
   17  Florida Statutes, to read:
   18         440.13 Medical services and supplies; penalty for
   19  violations; limitations.—
   20         (17) WORKERS’ COMPENSATION COST TASK FORCE.—
   21         (a) The Workers’ Compensation Cost Task Force is created.
   22  The Department of Financial Services shall provide
   23  administrative and staff support services relating to the
   24  functions of the task force. The task force shall organize by
   25  July 1, 2014. The task force shall be composed of the following
   26  17 members:
   27         1. The Chief Financial Officer, or his or her designee, who
   28  shall serve as chair of the task force.
   29         2. An attorney who practices workers’ compensation law,
   30  appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
   31         3. The Insurance Consumer Advocate.
   32         4. The Secretary of the Department of Health, or his or her
   33  designee.
   34         5. The employee member of the three-member panel, created
   35  under subsection (12).
   36         6. One member who represents a critical access hospital,
   37  appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
   38         7. One member who represents a rural hospital, appointed by
   39  the President of the Senate.
   40         8. Five members appointed by the President of the Senate
   41         and five members appointed by the Speaker of the House of
   42  Representatives which must each include:
   43         a. A member of the Legislature;
   44         b. An owner or representative of a hospital system that has
   45  over 2,000 beds and provides services to a significant number of
   46  workers’ compensation claims;
   47         c. An owner or representative of a business that employs
   48  more than 500 employees;
   49         d. An owner or representative of a business that employs
   50  less than 25 employees; and
   51         e. A representative from an insurance company that provides
   52  workers’ compensation insurance.
   53         (b) Members of the task force shall serve without
   54  compensation, but are entitled to reimbursement for per diem and
   55  travel expenses pursuant to s. 112.061.
   56         (c) The purpose of the task force is to analyze workers’
   57  compensation costs. The task force shall review and analyze the
   58  recommendations of the Three-Member Panel 2013 Biennial Report
   59  in the context of reducing workers’ compensation costs. The task
   60  force shall develop a report that includes its findings and
   61  recommendations for legislative action regarding a new payment
   62  methodology for hospital inpatient and outpatient reimbursements
   63  in workers’ compensation cases which will reward efficiency,
   64  quality, and outcomes. The task force must address other factors
   65  related to workers’ compensation costs, including, but not
   66  limited to, the volume of inpatient and outpatient services, the
   67  number of accidents and workers compensation claims, fraud, the
   68  cost per claim and treatment, and tort costs related to workers’
   69  compensation care. The task force shall submit the report to the
   70  Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the
   71  House of Representatives by January 15, 2015.
   72         (d) The Office of Insurance Regulation, in consultation
   73  with the Workers’ Compensation Cost Task Force, shall prepare a
   74  report analyzing the use of negotiated workers’ compensation
   75  premium provisions within retrospective rating plans. The report
   76  shall examine the use of such provisions in neighboring and
   77  competitive states, specifically as to savings in the actual
   78  premium if a retrospective rating deviation is applied compared
   79  to the standard workers’ compensation premium, and as to the
   80  potential inequity for Florida’s employers due to the lack of
   81  such authorization in this state. The report must examine the
   82  potential savings to Florida’s employers as a result of
   83  implementation of negotiated premiums for employers that have
   84  exposure in more than one state and an estimated annual
   85  countrywide standard premium of at least $250,000, $500,000, and
   86  $750,000. This report shall be delivered to the task force for
   87  approval by September 1, 2014, and the approved report shall be
   88  delivered to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the
   89  House of Representatives by November 1, 2014.
   90         (e) This subsection shall be repealed June 30, 2015.
   91         Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.