No-fault developments brewing

Fasten your seat belts. Gov. Charlie Crist is expected to announce later Monday that the just-expired personal injury protection law for motorists will be added to the agenda of the legislative session starting Wednesday. Crist wasn't definitive with reporters, but said he would "address it more formally" later on Monday. "I want to put out what's appropriate and what's doable and what we can cover," said the governor, a longstanding supporter of keeping some form of PIP in place.

That would leave just one other huge political issue up in the air: the future of property taxes, which The Buzz hears will be addressed in a special, taxes-only session later in October.

Crist also said that he doesn't expect anything definitive on the status of gambling negotiations with the Seminole Tribe of Florida. "The window there is probably about a month, and I'm optimistic about it," he said.

Comments

Snake Farm and United Autovile are ripping us off!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqE3k1r7ku8

10:54

That is the funniest video I have ever seen.

Don't taze me Charlie!

[terminator]

can this guy ever give anyone a straight answer?

Wow, the trial attorneys and freaky chiros win again.

[Bo]

CC aims to keep his 70% approval rating by seeming to be on everyone's side and then confusing everyone so they don't really know.

A "straight" answer?

[james]

no - the trial attys (fja) want it to sunset along with state farm- i hear they promised pruitt & the repubs big $$$ to let no-fault die

[Pat Mytushi]

Enough already and save PIP.

[Contemplating]

Add PIP to the upcoming Special Session. The only ones agianst the extension of PIP are the greedy profit driven insurance companies who want to do away with ststutorily regulated PIP nad sell you something more expensive with less benefits.

Represent Floridians - NOT GREEDY PROFIT DRIVEN INSURANCE COMPANIES.

[Rafael]

The person that said the trial attorneys and freaky chiros win again clearly has no concept. The trial attorneys want PIP dead. They will make much more money that way.

PIP is good for the consumer. It really is a win-win. Insurance companies make money, hospitals and doctors get paid, and most importantly, citizens of this state do not go bankrupt (hopefully) due to lost wages or medical expenses incurred as the result of an auto accident.

Big, insurers know that without PIP, some of the smaller companies will be driven out of the market. They also know that their exposure on auto accident claims will ultimately go down because less people will be able to afford the treatment they need. They will also make more money on their liability and UM coverages because they can justify a rate increase by showing that they no longer have a set-off of $10,000 and that they are now more exposed to suits because there is no permanent injury requirement for a person to bring a lawsuit for pain and suffering damages after an auto accident.

So who wins with PIP? We all win. Who wins without PIP? The big insurance companies. Who loses the most without PIP, the citizens of this state; particularly those who are otherwise uninsured.

it's not too late for our legislators to take responsible action and re-enact PIP.

Wow, trial attorneys win again.

[MD & JD]

My husband is an ER MD and I am a law student. Rafael has it exactly right; hospitals, ERs, ambulance companies, BayFlight, and legitimate outpatient physical therapy practices will not be able to provide services Floridians have been used to having available. Trial attorneys do indeed want PIP to sunset - then every single accident is a case for them. There would be no pre-paid medical bills, so their demand for compensation from the at-fault driver is huge, of which they get 33%!! The ONLY real winner without PIP is big insurance, which has so much money they can apparently buy legislation. We citizens are ALL the little guys. We are the ONLY LOSERS without PIP. Without a paycheck from the ER, my family will be forced to leave the state. Florida's MDs will begin leaving. I already know many who have. All that will be left in Florida will be TV ads for insurance and injury attorneys. It's really & truly that desperate a situation.

11:16 So lets let the big corporate lawyers and the MD's win. After all the corporate lawyers are on the side of the people and God knows most doctors don't care about the money, they just care about the patient. They would be willing to sacrifice one or two of their big luxury cars to help the little guy. Say what you like about the trial attorneys and chiros, but dont pretend that there is not another side of this story, and that they are not making money from it.

11:53 WOW, Insurace wins again!

[james]

12:06- DO U THINK THE REASON PRUITT WOULD NOT ADD IT, IS NOT BECAUSE OF $$? EVERYTHING BOILS DOWN TO $$$, BUT LETTING NO FAULT SUNSET IS JUST NOT GOOD FOR THE PEOPLE.

Rafael & MD/JD:

Sorry, but you are wrong. FJA does not speak for all plaintiffs’ personal injury attorneys. FJA primarily represents the interests of the top tier trial lawyers. The bottom feeder trial lawyers like PIP, while the top tier trial lawyers wouldn’t even let a PIP case in their office. The bottom feeders are driving this train (primarily with the Dade delegation). They want to keep PIP because they are making a fortune on attorney’s fees filing claims over ridiculous matters such as the cost of a therapeutic pillow; the efficacy of thermograms; and the cost of mileage to a provider. It is the bottom feeders that give plaintiffs’ attorneys a bad name. Even FJA can’t stomach the numerous PIP abuses.

Charlie Christ is really giving an effort for the little guy....god bless him

[Rick]

thank goodness for the people's governer. Jebbie would have let the insurance companies have whatever they wanted, there's a new sheriff in town !!

[The People]

Thank you, Charlie!!!

Rick needs a spelling lesson

[David]

I can see it now...bowing to the Insurance Companies....the Gambling and the County Commissioners, all will get what they want....sometime soon, mabey, lets not put the cart before the horse, lets be optimistic and then when it the time comes for a decision, well...whats a few more weeks, right?? I like Crist, but come on, lets get a backbone and a solid plan(s) in place prior to the date they are to be implemented. He' must be watching too much "Gone with the WInd"....."I cant think about that right now...I'll think about it tomorrow"....thats right,, theres ALWAYS a tomorrow.

[Jim]

To the unidentified attorney defending the florida justice association several entries above, I must ask ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! The FJA (formerly the florida trial lawyers association), had a longstanding published position statement touting the necessity and goodness of PIP on humanitarian grounds. Only days/weeks prior to the regular legislative session of April/May 2007, when the FTLA entered into a secret arrangement with the insurance lobby, did FTLA decide to drop its support for PIP in favor of joining an effort to put mandatory BI (the holy grail for trial lawyers) in its place. To state that "Even FJA can't stomach the numerous PIP abuses" is absurd. The FJA can stomach such abuses, and any others, just fine. The FJA's mission, much like the insurance industry's, is to generate the most money its profession, and it cares about nothing and no one else. As for your statement "It is the bottom feeders that give plaintiffs' attorneys a bad name", I have just one correction. It is plaintiff attorneys that give plaintiff attorneys a bad name.

[terminator]

Rick, put down the crack pipe and back away slowly!

[Justin]

Good move on the Governor, cannot have uninsured drivers whether it be PIP or otherwise. Without PIP I see higher proeprty taxes to pay for hospital and rescue services, and higher premiums for health insurance. PIP is cheap and I can go to whatever doctor I desire not like my HMO. Leave it alone.

[John Hewitt]

Kudos to Governer Charlie who is concerned with the people (unlike clown Jeb). After 8 years of Jeb's nonsense, its finally good to have a Governer who will do the people's will and battle insurance companies (as opposed to getting in bed with them like Jeb). There's a new day dawning in the state and the nation. Populism is returning...bye bye Jev, George, haliburton, Enron, Foley, Rev Tom Haggard, Abramson, Cheney, and all the other corrupt Republicans.

[Tony]

FJA AND STATE FARM ARE BOTH CORRUPT.

The People are on to the Florida Trial Lawyers Association (now known as the FJA) and BIG INSURANCE.

What a complete trip!

The Trial Lawyers want PIP to go away so that they can profiteer from the accident cases to the tune of 1/3 of all recovery and the BIG INSURANCE companies want PIP to go away because they know without PIP, a person would have to sue the other driver.

That means that the insurance company could take forever to pay (and therefore buy reinsurance and invest the premiums in high paying investment vehicles) and when they did have to pay, they would have made money on the payout already.

WATCH OUT FOLKS big insurance WILL BE INTO BANKING IN A HOT MINUTE. THEY HAVE THE MONEY TO BUY THE LEGISLATION THAT THEY NEED.

BANK OF STATE FARM or Some other name if they haven't already bought into something.

YOU WILL SEE FOLKS. IT WILL BE TOO LATE BY THEN.

I HOPE A STEAK DINNER AND ROUND OF GOLF REALLY HELPS TO SOOTHE THE FEELINGS OF SELLING OUT THE PEOPLE OF THIS GREAT STATE.