According to a statement from the Florida Department of Financial Services, workers’ compensation insurers paying into two Florida funds are going to see a big reduction in expenses next year.

The Workers’ Compensation Administration Trust Fund (WCATF) and the Special Disability Trust Fund (SDTF) were managed so well that cost savings are expected to equal $20 million for 2019.

Jimmy Patronis, Florida Chief Financial Officer, said that additional savings for insurers may be passed on to businesses in Florida.

In 1997 legislative changes meant the SDTF was statutorily prohibited from accepting new claims with accident dates after December 31, 1991. Insurers and self-insured employers continue to be assessed to fund a small number of older claims, and fiscally responsibly management of the WCATF has allowed for rates to be reduced. The 2019 assessment rate reduction will be the seventh reduction for the WCATF and ninth for the SDTF.

Other factors may have contributed to this reduction in assessment rate, including a division of Workers’ Compensation, Bureau of Compliance enforcement actions, an increase of exemption applications processed due to a healthy economy, other regulatory fines, fees and infrequent wind-falls for the WCATF, and a decrease in COLA payments to seriously injured workers.

Florida also will see a 1.8 percent decrease in workers’ comp rates.

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