In a letter written by Representative Rick Kriseman to Governor Rick Scott, the former has clearly mentioned that there are many errors in the recent spate of auto insurance reforms in the state. Kriseman says that the most evident glitch of all is the one that prevents medical providers from offering PIP treatments within a period of six months.
As per the reforms, the first set of rules for licensing clinics that have been drawn up will be brought into effect from the 1st of June 2012. However, there are another set of rules for defining facilities that need not adhere to the licensing requirements and these set of rules will not see the light of the day till the 1st of January, 2013. According to Kriseman, this can result in auto insurance providers denying claims from providers that are exempt from licensing requirements.
On Monday, Kriseman emphasized that that there should be steps taken to fix these glitches before the first set of rules come into implementation from the 1st of June. He also said that Governor Scott, who is currently promoting the benefits of the reforms to the PIP insurance, should be the one to initiate a fix to these shortcomings. Talking about this, Kriseman said that he has not placed the ball in the Governor’s court and it is Scott’s responsibility since he was the one who spearheaded the entire set of reforms.
Kriseman also said that he has not received any response from the Governor’s office to his request. Governor Rick Scott is currently on a visit to Spain with a few business leaders from the state. A few others, in the absence of the governor, said that there was nothing that needed any sort of clarification.
There was a memo issued by The Agency for Health Care Administration, on 8th May, to assure health care providers that there would be no reforms that would give rise to lapses in coverage, which in turn can have an impact on the payments.
Insurance providers said that though there may be a few technical glitches in the reforms drafted, they do not intend to exploit it. Michael Carlson, Personal Insurance Federation of Florida’s executive director, said that it would be an embarrassment for insurance providers to deny claims during this period and it could have a negative impact on such providers.
