Automobile Insurance in Florida; landscape may be changing

Stay tuned to the Leon County Circuit Court case of Robin Myers et al vs. Kevin McCarty Florida Insurance commissioner. This case is at a preliminary stage but the first round goes to the Florida consumer. Myers is a message therapist who along with other professionals affected by the latest revisions to Florida’s no fault auto insurance laws, widely known as Personal injury protection (PIP) have sued the State to prevent enforcement of this law. Judge Terry Lewis in Tallahassee has entered a temporary injunction and stated that it is his belief that with the current changes, Florida’s PIP law is no longer a “reasonable alternative” to Article I, Section 21 of Florida’s Constitution. That’s technical legal speak for his finding that the law prevents peoples access to courts. The state of Florida has asked for a
delay in enforcing the injunction until the case can be argued before an appellate court. Hearings will be held to determine if the temporary injunction should remain or be postponed until the appellate courts decide the case.
The statute in question prohibited the type of medical treatment a person could seek for an injury suffered in an auto accident. The law also required that the injured person seek treatment only for “emergency medical conditions.”
Clients often report to me that the symptoms of whiplash are not felt right away or that they increase over night or that even when they are felt right away these symptoms are not the type that make someone feel the need to go to an emergency room and wait for treatment. The statute greatly favored urgent care type facilities and disfavored chiropractic care and message therapist. Again, my clients report chiropractors, message therapist, and acupuncturist have offered them the most relief from their symptoms. Chiropractors, acupuncturist and message therapist understand the nature of these injuries and are most interested in offering the treatments universally accepted in the medical community for them. Coincidentally these providers in my experience are the most reasonably priced among the options.
The latest revisions of the law do not benefit the great majority of people with injuries following automobile accidents. These people typically get better with the help and medical guidance from chiropractors, acupuncturist, and message therapist. They are not interested in suing the other driver. They just want to get back to work and to feeling like they did before the auto accident. The old law allowed for that. If you have been denied PIP benefits call me, you might have a claim I can help with.