Orlando Injury Lawyers Discuss Legislature’s Shortcomings
As we know the Florida Legislature adjourned its recent session without completing many important tasks. As Orlando injury lawyers, we believe one of the most critical omissions may be the failure to extend personal injury protection laws beyond October, 2007. While the Florida Senate passed an appropriate, clean PIP bill, the Florida House failed to consider it.
So what does this all mean? For innocent injury victims here in Orlando and throughout the state, It means more litigation and a greater burden on those without health insurance. For our hospitals, it means providing emergency care and treatment to those who have no means of paying for it. Indeed, the primary opponent of extending our No-Fault law is the insurance industry. Car insurers do not like a system which requires them to pay for reasonable and necessary medical treatment, with penalties, if they fail to do so timely. Of course, that’s no surprise from Big Insurance.
While the Governor may bring this important legislation up in a special session this summer, there are no definite plans to do so. Certainly, we hope Governor Crist will consider the needs of innocent injury victims, our hospitals and our courts and address this issue before PIP sunsets this fall. Obviously, the Florida Hospital Association will be pushing for the PIP issue to be added to the agenda of the special legislative session scheduled for mid-June. Florida hospitals claim they stand to lose $350 million in reimbursement for treating auto accident victims in emergency rooms and trauma centers without PIP.
