Florida House Insurance Subcommittee Passes Personal Injury Protection Fix Bill (HB 967)

At its meeting today, March 16, 2011, the Florida House Banking and Insurance Subcommittee (“Subcommittee”) passed HB 967 by State Representative Mike Horner relating to Personal Injury Protection (“PIP”) insurance. 

The Subcommittee also held a workshop on HB 803 relating to Property and Casualty Insurance by Chairman John Wood and HB 1243 relating to Citizens Property Insurance Corporation by State Representative Jim Boyd.

HB 967

Although the Subcommittee had questions relating to the section of the bill that related to examinations under oath, the support for the bill was overwhelming.

HB 967, which passed today as a Committee Substitute, next will be heard by the House Civil Justice Subcommittee.

CS/HB 967 would make various changes to Florida’s PIP/No-Fault motor vehicle statutes as follows:

• Authorize PIP insurance policies that require or allow the use of arbitration to resolve disputes
• Grant exclusive original jurisdiction to circuit courts to hear challenges to PIP arbitration decision and provide for a trial de novo (new trial) in circuit court
• Require insurers to pay the costs of arbitration, as well as attorney fees in certain situations
• Cap attorney fee awards in disputes under Florida’s No-Fault Law at $10,000 ($50,000 in class actions) or three times the disputed amount recovered, whichever is less
• Bar use of a contingency risk multiplier in determining fee awards in No-Fault cases
• Permit insurers to use the schedule of maximum charges that is based on Medicare Part B when providing reimbursement for durable medical equipment and care and services rendered by clinical laboratories
• Provide that reimbursement for care and services rendered in ambulatory surgical centers may be limited to 80 percent of the workers’ compensation fee schedule when not reimbursable under Medicare Part B
• Establish that when PIP reimbursement is made under a Medicare-based schedule of maximum charges, that the applicable Medicare schedule in effect on January 1st is to be used throughout the year in calculating reimbursement, regardless of any subsequent changes in Medicare rates
• Require insureds who are seeking PIP benefits to comply with all terms of the insurance policy, including submitting to an examination under oath (“EUO”).  Compliance with policy terms would be a condition precedent to eligibility for policy benefits.  EUOs would be permitted to be recorded.
• Require assignees of PIP payment rights to comply with policy terms and cooperate with the insurer, including submitting to an EUO.  If the assignee is a medical provider, the bill requires the insurer to make a written request for information sought before requesting an EUO.  A medical provider would be entitled to reasonable compensation for time spent participating in an EUO.
• Provide that it is an unfair and deceptive trade practice for an insurer to request EUOs without a reasonable basis as a general business practice.

The use of CS/HB 967’s arbitration provisions as an alternative to litigation is projected to result in some savings to Florida’s court system.

Should it become law, the bill would be effective on July 1, 2011.

To view the complete analysis of CS/HB 967, click here.

Should you have any comments or questions, please contact Colodny Fass.