After decades of being wildly underpaid due to the Sunshine State’s abysmally low workers’ comp fee schedule, 2025 saw those worthies get a major jump in pay: 41%, to be precise.

Joe Paduda

That’s a key takeaway from the Workers Compensation Research Institute's recent report on nonfacility prices paid for workers’ comp medical services.

But — and it's a big but — Florida’s docs are still paid below the median in the 36 states evaluated by WCRI.

A key point is that WCRI’s report speaks to the prices paid, not the fee schedule itself. Network discounts are undoubtedly a key factor, as Florida’s network penetration is just under 80% for medical services.

What’s amazing is that providers are finally being paid around the same as docs in other states. Amazing because the entity that regulates fee schedules, the Three-Member Panel, has a long history of screwing docs and rewarding hospitals.

Unfortunately, two of the current members were, for years, no friends of the provider community.

What does this mean for you?

About friggin’ time.

Joseph Paduda is the principal of Health Strategy Associates, a consulting firm focused on improving medical management programs in workers’ compensation. This column is republished with his permission from his Managed Care Matters blog.