Florida GOP noncommittal on making certain rights of front-line employees to entry COVID-related employees’ compensation
Click image
The Senate will deal with coronavirus-related claims for damages by workers during this year’s legislature, the chairman of the Senate’s Judiciary Committee said on Monday. But Senator Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg made no promises that the Senate would make changes to ensure that health care workers and frontline teachers can access workers’ compensation benefits.
A report by the state’s Department of Workers’ Compensation found that as of December 31, 13,409 claims for compensation had been filed by health care workers and educators, and that nearly 46 percent of the claims were denied.
The rejection rate for these workers exceeded the general rejection rate of 43 percent.
“I think we’re going to look at this as part of the whole pandemic committee,” Brandes said, referring to the Senate Select Committee on Pandemic Prep and Response.
Employee compensation is a no-fault system designed to protect employees and employers. It aims to provide workers injured in the workplace with access to medical services that they need as a whole. In return for providing these benefits, employers generally cannot be sued in court for infringement.
Florida’s workers’ compensation laws cover “occupational diseases” that are characteristic of specific occupations or occupations. However, the term excludes “all common life diseases to which the general public is exposed”, unless the incidence of the disease is significantly higher in certain occupations.
Brandes is the Senate’s main sponsor for a proposal (SB 72) that provides broad immunity to most companies from coronavirus-related lawsuits. However, the bill explicitly excludes healthcare providers from protection.
Brandes said Monday during a press briefing outside the Center Point Health & Rehabilitation in Tallahassee that the bill included “bright line issues” that have had broad legislative support.
About 31 percent of the compensation claims filed by 93,228 workers in Florida in 2020 were related to COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.
Payments for these claims accounted for less than 8 percent of employee compensation payments of $ 727,329,103 last year, according to the state report.
Attempts to reach Senator Danny Burgess, a Republican from Zephyrhills who chairs the Senate Pandemic Preparedness and Response Committee, have been unsuccessful.
– –
Keep up to date with news and views in Central Florida with our weekly newsletters and support this free publication. Our small but fine team works tirelessly to bring you the latest news from Central Florida, and every little bit helps.
Comments are closed.