PIP Law May Not Disappear After All:
Legislators may give the state's no-fault auto insurance requirement a last-minute reprieve
Aaron Deslatte
Orlando Sentinel
Sep 17, 2007
TALLAHASSEE - Florida's no-fault auto-insurance law -- due to face its demise Oct. 1 -- has been given another fleeting chance at life.
Buoyed by a minor insurrection in the Florida House and behind-the-scenes dealings by Gov. Charlie Crist's office, the groups fighting about the fate of the state's personal-injury-protection law, or PIP, have launched a last-ditch round of negotiations among insurers, hospitals, medical providers and trial lawyers.
At stake for Florida drivers is a piece of their auto-insurance premium that could vanish once their policy expires -- or get more expensive if they opt to buy more bodily-injury or medical coverage to make up for losing PIP.
After Sept. 30, drivers would no longer be required to pay for PIP, which covers up to $10,000 of their medical expenses and those of their passengers no matter who's at fault in an accident.
Insurers such as State Farm have been approved for average rate reductions of 16 percent without PIP, while other companies won't cut rates at all, according to state records.
Meanwhile, hospitals and other health-care providers say their costs for treating uninsured patients will go up without PIP.
On Friday, the Senate's lead negotiator, Banking and Insurance Chairman Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, sent a new plan to the House that would resurrect the PIP requirement.
The deal would offer insurers some guarantees on how much they would have to pay for specific injuries, to fight what insurers claim is rampant fraud and overuse. But it falls well short of the wishes of House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-West Miami -- who wants reforms that also include attorney-fee caps and other protections for insurers from "frivolous" lawsuits.
"If I say I'm optimistic, that sounds like it's not cautionary," Posey said Friday. "That sounds certain, and I'm not certain."
His House counterpart, Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, said she was "a little disappointed" with the proposal, but added that pressure was building to make a deal. She said she was more confident a reform could be passed before lawmakers end their Oct. 3212 special session.
"The sky's not going to fall if PIP sunsets for a three-day period," she said.
On another front, a bipartisan group of a dozen House lawmakers is trying to gather enough votes to prod Crist and the Republican leadership to add PIP to the special session.
"Leadership means being in touch with what your body feels is important and making sure there's a fair process," said Rep. Kevin Ambler, R-Lutz, a trial lawyer trying to rally lawmakers for an extension. Rubio "needs to reach out to us," he complained. "I think it's a two-way street."
Rubio spokeswoman Jill Chamberlin said he's been clear there will be no new life for PIP unless attorney fees are capped and problems that allow patients to overuse it for unnecessary services are fixed.
"The speaker has been consistent on this issue from Day One, going back years, that perpetuation of PIP is a continued license for fraud," she said.
This week, Crist's office has also waded into the fray -- refereeing an all-day meeting between interest groups last Wednesday and planning another session to work on a deal Monday.
Jack Hebert, a lobbyist with the Florida Chiropractic Association, said the upcoming budget-cutting session "gives you some chance, some hope."
But the chances of cutting a deal in time remain a long shot, at best.
"It's an issue that needs someone to show some leadership instead of just saying 'Let's let it go away and see what happens on the streets,'" Hebert said.
Aaron Deslatte can be reached at adeslatte@orlandosentinel.com or 850-222-5564.