Florida car accident victims and those of us who represent them should be keeping an eye on what is happening in Tallahassee. While most injury lawyers see the benefit of extending PIP protection to assist car accident victims, a recent House bill puts the interest of the auto insurance industry ahead of consumers. The House’s auto insurance bill, which came out of the Rules and Calendar Council, which usually doesn’t take up substantive legislation, plans to do away with PIP.
The House version would require drivers to buy at least $15,000 of medical payments coverage to cover care in hospitals, trauma centers and emergency rooms shortly after an accident occurs. However, it eliminates coverage for other treatments such as rehabilitative services and chiropractic doctors. The bill also contains a fee schedule under the guise of controlling the cost of medical care.
Is it fair to deny accident victims coverage for choosing to be promptly treated elsewhere rather than having to wait hours to be seen at the emergency department? Is it fair to deny accident victims coverage for on-going medical care and rehabilitation related to the accident? After all, how many serious accident victims are completely well after their brief hospital visit?
In stark contrast to this stands the Senate bill approved by the General Government Appropriations committee, which extends the no-fault law for another four years and provides additional funding to deal with insurance fraud. That of course or something similar is what would benefit real consumers. As we have seen handling car accidents over the years, most people would have little or no coverage for medical expenses after an accident if it was not for PIP.
It is disappointing to see those misleading commercials put out by the auto insurance industry telling Floridians to call Tallahassee and demand a change to the present system. Unfortunately, the powerful insurance companies continue to increase their profits while providing fewer benefits for their policy holders. Soon we will learn whether the powerful insurance lobby wins another victory in Tallahassee.
