by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
Gov. Jeb Bush extended trial lawyers’ losing streak in the legislature last week when he vetoed a bill requiring Florida drivers to carry personal injury insurance.
That bill had been one of the few instances of good news for litigators coming out of Tallahassee. The legislature passed several laws designed to limit liability in civil suits, but the Florida Bar thought it had won a hard-fought victory when lawmakers extended the requirement for drivers to carry $10,000 in Personal Injury Protection insurance.
But Bush brought that subdued victory party to an end Wednesday when he vetoed the law. Bush’s move has litigators preparing to argue the issue again in 2007.
“It’s truly disappointing that the governor vetoed a bill that resulted from a lot of hard work on both sides,” said Tom Edwards, a partner at Peek, Cobb & Edwards and a lobbyist for the Association of Florida Trial Lawyers. “The law that passed was a good bill that protected consumers and built in fraud protections to shield insurance carriers.”
But the veto didn’t surprise Edwards. Bush had threatened to strike the bill when it passed both chambers of the legislature with one vote against. The vote in the Senate was 44-0; in the House of Representatives it was 118-1. Unless the Legislature extends PIP next year, the requirement will sunset in October 2007.
Edwards thinks a similar law could survive the 2007 session. Lawyers’ tough sledding in Tallahassee this year was partly attributable to the pre-election political climate, Edwards said.
Edwards expected legislators and the governor’s office to make tort reform a priority heading into the 2006 election. He wasn’t disappointed.
The survival of PIP in 2007 will likely depend on who’s in the governor’s office, he said.
“Whoever the new governor is, what I’ll be watching for is a person that’s going to protect the rights of consumers,” said Edwards.
Edwards doubted that insurance legislation would resonate as a campaign issue. But the loss of PIP — which pays for medical expenses and lost wages stemming from injuries suffered in an accident — would be significant, he said.
For poor motorists who can’t afford health insurance, PIP acts as their only means to pay for medical care, said Edwards. Remove PIP, and many of their medical bills will end up on the taxpayers’ tab, he said.
Edwards pointed out that a desire to keep PIP is one of the few sentiments shared by the Florida Bar and Florida Medical Association. The two groups have been bitterly divided over medical malpractice laws.
“There are hundreds of thousands of auto accidents every year, and there is a very high number of people walking around without medical insurance in this state. Put those two together and you’re talking about the potential for a very big social drain,” said Edwards. “That’s why it’s been one of the very few things that we have agreed with the FMA on.”
Their voices have been so far drowned out by the insurance industry. Insurance carriers think mandatory PIP results in higher rates due to fraudulent claims and other abuses.
But Edwards said insurance carriers’ hostility toward PIP is part of a larger trend. Essentially, the carriers only want to provide coverage in areas where they make money, he said.
Carriers flock to profitable insurance streams like auto coverage, while avoiding financially-risky areas like wind and flood coverage for homeowners.
Edwards pushed for a bill that would have prevented what he calls “cherry picking” in the insurance industry. But that bill was killed in a last-minute vote.