Total Injury

With Florida’s personal injury protection law requiring that drivers carry up to $10,000 of personal injury insurance set to expire on October 1st of this year, the state Senate and House are looking at different ways to address the issue. Earlier this week, the state Senate passed a bill that would extend the Florida personal injury protection law for three more years. The House on the other hand has proposed a bill that would get rid of this personal injury protection and rather require $15,000 dollars in coverage for emergency rooms and hospital-owned clinics.

Insurance companies have claimed that the current Florida personal injury protection law is wrought with fraud. Proponents of the law have disagreed and been willing to make a compromise by putting a cap on the reimbursements that insurance companies have to pay to hospitals, doctors and clinics that treat car accident victims. Insurance companies would rather see the law go for good, a move which a recent Insurance Journal story indicated could save them $350 million.

Under Senate Bill 1880, the current Florida personal injury protection law would be extended for three more years. During that time, the system would be studied to examine such claims of widespread fraud, areas for improvement and other factors by October 2010. This proposed Florida personal injury law would also prohibit this protection to be extended after January 2012 unless reforms are made to the system as mandated by the study.

A CBS4.com story said that the House is likely to take up this issue next week and amend its own bill, HB 7215, onto it. Florida lawmakers have only one week left to reach a compromise on this hot issue in the state before the session ends on May 4th. We’ll keep you updated on any developments with the status of the Florida personal injury protection law.

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