By Kathleen Haughney, Tallahassee Bureau
7:35 p.m. EDT, March 20, 2013
TALLAHASSEE – A Tallahassee judge Wednesday struck down a massive overhaul to the auto insurance system that was designed to drive down Personal Injury Protection rates, leading the architect of the plan to say it may be time to "ditch" the entire no-fault system.
Circuit Judge Terry Lewis ruled that the reforms that banned PIP payments to acupuncturists and massage therapists and said an "emergency medical condition" must be proven for an accident victim to receive the full $10,000 of the coverage, did not pass constitutional muster because they did not adequately compensate drivers for giving up their right to sue.
"Is the no-fault law still a good deal?" asked Lewis in a seven-page opinion. "Is it still a reasonable alternative to the rights guaranteed to citizens [to sue in court for damages]? The answer to these questions is probably, like beauty, in the eye of the beholder. And reasonable people may disagree."
Under the changes, which took effect Jan. 1, victims had to seek treatment within 14 days after an accident and get a physician's certification of their "emergency medical condition" to receive the full $10,000 worth of treatment reimbursable under PIP. The law banned payments to acupuncturists and massage therapists and limited chiropractors' fees in most cases to $2,500.Last spring, lawmakers urged on by Gov.
Rick Scott and Chief Financial Officer
Jeff Atwater, passed a massive overhaul of PIP, which pays up to $10,000 in medical care for accident victims regardless of who is at fault. The reforms were intended to drive down soaring costs for the compulsory coverage that auto insurers attributed to massive fraud.
In return, insurers were required to drop their PIP rates by 25 percent by January 2014 or explain why they can't. An independent analysis of the law said that this rate change was possible, but it was likely that insurers would increase the costs of other coverages.
Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, who was a sponsor of the reforms, said the Senate must analyze the opinion, but added that it may be time to get rid of PIP, a key component of the state's 40-year-old no-fault system.
Senate Banking and Insurance Chairman David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, floated that idea a few months ago, suggesting instead that drivers be required to carry only bodily injury coverage. That requirement – a throwback to Florida's former tort system – would allow motorists to sue a driver who caused an accident. But it would not cover injuries to the at-fault driver.
"Those are options," Negron said.
But, he added, "we're certainly not going to make final decisions based on a temporary injunction."
The Office of Insurance Regulation said it plans to file an appeal by Friday.
Michael Carlson, executive director for the Personal Insurance Federation of Florida, a lobbying group for several large insurers, said the ruling was a "setback."
"We hope that OIR will prevail in its planned appeal and that these reforms will be allowed to work to lower PIP premiums in Florida," he said in an email.
khaughney@tribune.com or 850-224-6214
Judge orders temporary ban on part of Fla. PIP law
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A Tallahassee judge has signaled that changes to Florida's Personal Injury Protection law may be unconstitutional and ordered a temporary ban on enforcing some of its parts.
Circuit Judge Terry Lewis suspended parts of PIP that require a finding of emergency medical condition and prohibit payments to acupuncturists, massage therapists and chiropractors. He said the law violates the right of access to the courts found in the Florida Constitution.
Lewis signed the order last Friday but it was released Wednesday. The state's Office of Insurance Regulation said it is appealing, and any appeal acts as a hold on Lewis' order.
Lawmakers passed PIP - or no-fault - coverage in the early 1970s to ensure that anyone hurt in an automobile wreck could obtain medical treatment without delay, while waiting for a case to be resolved.
Lewis' order granting in part a motion for temporary injunction says "(t)he fundamental right to seek redress for injuries received at the hands of another is a cornerstone of our legal system," and free access to the courts and the administration of justice is enshrined in the state constitution.
Over the years, however, state and federal lawmakers have "tinkered with these fundamental principles," said Lewis, adding the PIP law is an "example of this experiment with socialism and the trend away from those libertarian principles of individual liberty and personal responsibility."
Lewis quickly noted he was using "the popular, if somewhat inaccurate meaning" of socialism: "Any law that intrudes significantly into the free market arena with government mandates, e.g. socialized medicine."
The PIP law was a trade-off that provided a "reasonable alternative" to the courts, Lewis wrote.
"The question raised in this case ... is whether the revised no-fault law passes beyond these 'outer limits of constitutional tolerance,'" he said, quoting another judge. "I conclude that it does ... (It) now severely limits what can be recovered."
The law provides that a driver's insurance company pay up to $10,000 to cover medical bills and lost wages after an accident, no matter who's at fault. All Florida drivers are required to carry PIP insurance.
Over the years, however, authorities have voiced concern that Florida has become a leading state for staged accidents, especially in the Tampa and Miami-Dade metropolitan areas, by those intent on filing bogus PIP claims.
Last year, Gov. Rick Scott made an overhaul bill (HB 119) a cornerstone of his legislative agenda, saying it would help tamp down millions of dollars in PIP fraud. Acupuncture practitioners, massage therapists and chiropractors - angry at being cut out of PIP payments - eventually filed suit.
The changes also limited coverage for medical treatment to $2,500 if an injured person could not show an emergency medical condition.
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