Officials Anticipate Another Workers’ Comp Rate Decrease
In September 2025, the National Council on Compensation Insurance, the leading authority in this area, recommended a 6.9 percent rate decrease for 2026.
The NCCI’s proposed reduction is a recommendation only. Rates are set by the Florida Commissioner of Insurance, usually after a public hearing.
“The workers compensation system remains healthy. For the last decade, the system has broadly benefited from a steady drop in claim frequency, rising wages, and moderate severity. The changing workforce and evolving economy also continue to impact workers compensation,” the group noted.
Most employers in Florida are required to carry workers’ compensation insurance but there are exceptions for businesses with four or fewer employees and for construction companies with four or fewer officers.
Although workers’ compensation costs in the Sunshine State have dipped recently, Florida still has one of the highest workers’ compensation premiums in the country. If the proposed reduction (or a modified reduction) is approved, it will be the ninth consecutive year the state’s insurance commissioner has ordered a workers’ compensation rate reduction.
How Workers’ Compensation Rates Affect Benefits
Rate decreases have a powerful effect on the amount of workers’ compensation benefits. Decreases have a direct and indirect effect.
The direct effect is quite straightforward. Insurance premiums are the sole source of lost wage replacement and medical bill payment benefits. No tax dollars fund these compensation programs. So, less money going into the system means less money going out of it.
Most injured Florida workers receive two-thirds of their AWW (average weekly wage) for the duration of their temporary or permanent work-related disabilities. The AWW accounts for all income, including irregular (bonuses and overtime opportunities) and non-cash (401(k) matches and per diem) income.
The medical payment benefit applies to all reasonably necessary medical expenses. This category includes all medical bills, including prescription drugs and other ancillary expenses, from the first moment of emergency care to the last moment of physical therapy.
Indirectly, rate decreases strain the system. Fewer Claims Examiners must look at more claims. As a result, the possibility of error goes up.
A Tampa workers’ compensation lawyer is a critical partner at this early stage. A lawyer knows what evidence is needed to prove a claim. A lawyer also knows how to present this evidence and increase the chances of claim approval, like a chef knows how to present a pasta dish and make it more appetizing.
Workers’ Compensation Appeals
Despite the best efforts of a Tampa workers’ compensation lawyer, appeals are often necessary. Claims Examiners often deny claims to frustrate job injury victims and force them to abandon their claims or settle them for pennies on the dollar.
An Administrative Law Judge review is typically the centerpiece of a workers’ compensation appeal. Initial reviews, as outlined above, are paper reviews. At trial-like ALJ hearings, lawyers can not only introduce evidence. They can also challenge evidence and make legal arguments.
Because the tables are turned at the ALJ hearing, many workers’ compensation matters settle out of court prior to this hearing, sometimes almost literally on the courthouse steps.
Work With a Savvy Hillsborough County Lawyer
Injury victims are entitled to important financial benefits. For a confidential consultation with an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer in Tampa, contact Kobal Law. The sooner you reach out to us, the sooner we start working for you.
Source:
floridaphoenix.com/2025/09/02/workers-comp-rates-in-florida-expected-to-decrease-in-2026/
