Florida Rolls Out Significant Personal Injury Protection Changes

A new Florida law will lower insurance rates but restrict coverage available to injured motorists.

2012-04-21

April 21, 2012 (Press-News.org) Florida Rolls Out Significant Personal Injury Protection Changes

Big changes to Florida's personal injury protection, or PIP, insurance system are coming soon. Several legislators say the state, medical providers and consumers have all suffered from too much fraud in recent years and that the new law will return PIP to its original purpose of providing benefits for emergency treatment after auto accidents. The new law is intended to lower insurance rates and ease the burden of PIP litigation on Florida courts.

Auto Insurance Premiums

According to The News-Press, Florida auto insurance rates are more than 50 percent higher than the national average. The new law responds to this problem by requiring Florida insurance companies to reduce PIP premiums, with some exceptions, by at least 10 percent by October 2012 and at least 25 percent by 2014. Critics of the new law say that Florida motorists' coverage for injuries suffered in car accidents will be restricted in exchange for lower premiums.

Coverage Restrictions

Beginning in January 2013, full PIP coverage in the amount of $10,000 will only be available to injured motorists with a "medical emergency condition." The following state-licensed medical professionals will be authorized to determine whether an auto accident injury qualifies as a medical emergency:
-Doctors
-Osteopathic physicians
-Dentists
-Physician assistants
-Advanced registered nurse practitioners

Massage therapy and acupuncture services will not be covered. However, up to $2,500 for treatment of non-emergency injuries by physical therapists or chiropractors might be available depending on extent of the injury.

A significant motivation for these changes is the state's no-fault fraud problem, believed to cost Florida and taxpayers up to $1 billion annually, according to The News-Press. In one recent case, 15 people were implicated in a scheme to stage food-truck accidents in Miami and collect hundreds of thousands of dollars through fraudulent insurance claims. In another case, two Cape Coral clinics were shut down and 12 people were arrested and charged with defrauding insurers out of millions of dollars.

After suffering minor, moderate or severe injuries in a Florida auto accident, motorists should contact a knowledgeable and experienced personal injury attorney who will fight on their behalf for the compensation to which they are entitled under the law.

Article provided by Parvey & Frankel Attorneys, P.A
Visit us at http://www.parveyfrankel.com

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Mediation -- It's up to You

2012-04-21

Mediation -- It's up to You Using mediation in divorce and family law disputes can result in settlements that stand the test of time. Studies show that mediated agreements result in the least number of reappearances in court. In divorce mediation, the divorcing couple uses a neutral third party to negotiate between themselves on issues such as property division, child custody and alimony. Mediation is not for everyone, however. Some situations demand zealous representation by a Massachusetts divorce lawyer because of the emotionally charged nature of divorce cases. ...

Uncovering Hidden Assets in Divorce

2012-04-21

Uncovering Hidden Assets in Divorce While no one likes to think they could be defrauded by their spouse, even under the worst circumstances, asset concealment during divorce is relatively common. Some spouses hide assets for purely financial reasons, perhaps fearing that they will not have enough to get by on after the divorce; others engage in asset concealment for other reasons, such as feelings of entitlement or a desire to seek revenge. Divorcing spouses hide assets from one another in a wide variety of ways, ranging from highly sophisticated to deceptively simple. ...

Texas Department of Transportation Encourages Drivers to Share the Road

2012-04-21

Texas Department of Transportation Encourages Drivers to Share the Road Hundreds of motorcyclists are killed every year in Texas, and that number is tragically rising. Because motorcyclists have very little protection other than a helmet (if even wearing one) motorcycle riders have a disproportionally higher fatality rate than drivers of other motor vehicles. A motorcycle rider is 25 times more likely to die in an accident than other vehicle drivers, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. NHSTA data shows that nearly 90 percent of motorcycle ...

Tired Truckers May Create Big Problems for Others on the Road

2012-04-21

Tired Truckers May Create Big Problems for Others on the Road According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, adults should get between seven and nine hours of sleep every night. While being drowsy during the workday is an issue for many people, sleep fatigue among commercial truck drivers can result in deadly consequences. A recent study conducted by the National Sleep Foundation measured the sleep health of transportation workers like truckers, pilots and train engineers and compared their results to employees outside of the transportation industry. ...

Saving Gas vs. Driving Safely

2012-04-21

Saving Gas vs. Driving Safely During the choke of the nation's first major oil crisis, the National Maximum Speed Law provision of the 1974 Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act was drafted. More than four decades later, many states have taken advantage of the federal government's deregulation of national highway speed limit standards and abandoned the 55 mph limits on most interstate roads; however, recent studies reveal that 55 may again be the magic speed to save energy as the nation continues to face energy supply and conservation challenges. According to ...

Some Cities Step in Where New Texas Traffic Laws Fall Short

2012-04-21

Some Cities Step in Where New Texas Traffic Laws Fall Short Updates to Texas traffic laws in September 2011 brought a number of changes for drivers in the state, including speed limit adjustments and a new law requiring drivers to slow down or move over when approaching a tow truck on the side of the road. Significantly absent from the overhaul, however, was a measure that would have banned texting while driving for all drivers in Texas. A proposed state-wide texting ban had been approved by state legislators in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, but ...

Teen-Driver Car Accident Fatalities Increase Nationally

2012-04-21

Teen-Driver Car Accident Fatalities Increase Nationally Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for 16- to 19-year olds, and statistics show that they are on the rise nationally. According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, the most recent preliminary data available -- for the first half of 2011 -- shows that the number of both 16- and 17-year-olds killed in car accidents is increasing. New Jersey Fatal Car Accidents In New Jersey, the trend is the opposite, but that does not necessarily mean the state is a model of superior highway safety. ...

New Jersey's Drug Courts Offer Road to Rehabilitation

2012-04-21

New Jersey's Drug Courts Offer Road to Rehabilitation New Jersey's drug court system recognizes the fact that people who struggle with drug abuse should not be imprisoned but should be treated like folks with any other disease. Fortunately, Gov. Chris Christie favors the drug court system in the state and plans to expand the number of participants by making participation in the program mandatory, not voluntary. In New Jersey, the drug court is essentially a treatment program led by the drug court judge who coordinates the steps of the program with court staff, probation ...

SSA Process Quickly Helps Individuals With Serious Medical Conditions

2012-04-21

SSA Process Quickly Helps Individuals With Serious Medical Conditions The Social Security Administration has been providing benefits and compensation for disabled individuals since 1935. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 12 percent of the American population -- over 36 million people -- are classified as disabled, but only about 8.5 million disabled wage-earners are collecting Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. Why is there such a disparity? The claims process for obtaining SSDI benefits can be time-consuming and confusing, especially for those ...

Matrox Mura Video Wall Controller Boards, M-Series Graphics Cards to Figure Prominently as High-Performance Multi-Display Solutions at NEC Showcase 2012

2012-04-21

Matrox Graphics announced today that its high-performance Mura MPX Series video wall controller boards and M-Series multi-display graphics cards will each be featured in a variety of environments as go-to multi-display solutions at the NEC Showcase 2012 in London on April 25. In partnership with PSCo Technical Distribution, four Mura boards will drive a 4x4 video wall centerpiece made up of 16 of NEC's new X463UN 46-inch, ultra-narrow-bezel displays. The setup will stand 4.5 m high in portrait mode in the show's Digital out of Home zone, demonstrating the video wall's ...

Nonlinear association between systemic immune-inflammation index and in-hospital mortality in critically ill patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and atrial fibrillation: a cross-sectio

Florida Rolls Out Significant Personal Injury Protection Changes

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: