5/11/2012
By: Jeff Atwater
The Tampa Bay Times
This year the Legislature took on the challenge of
reforming Florida's broken personal injury protection
auto insurance system, which has been infiltrated by
crooks and enterprising industries, driving up costs for
all Floridians.
I believe this Legislature, with the support of Gov.
Rick Scott and many others, passed meaningful PIP
reforms that will positively impact Florida's drivers by
targeting fraud, reducing costs and making our roads
safer for citizens and visitors.
The purpose of this reform was to reduce skyrocketing
auto insurance premiums for Florida drivers. But change
does not happen overnight. We will not be able to fully
analyze the savings these measures will generate for
Florida's consumers until late 2013.
Our first opportunity to measure the effectiveness of
this legislation will come in July with the creation of
a PIP Fraud Strike Force. This strike force, along with
the Division of Insurance Fraud, will look for ways to
reduce fraud in the system as well as monitor for new
scams attempting to circumvent antifraud provisions. The
strike force will identify tools to assist in the
investigation and prosecution of PIP fraud and seek
funding and donations for such initiatives.
In September, the Office of Insurance Regulation,
overseen by Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty, will
contract with an independent consultant to calculate the
expected savings from the new law. I have instructed
Florida's insurance consumer advocate, Robin Westcott,
to play an active role in selecting the consultant and
reviewing the results to ensure that all factors are
properly evaluated and consumers are fairly represented
in the process.
In October, automobile insurers must make a filing
showing a rate reduction of at least 10 percent or
provide a detailed explanation as to why they were
unable to provide their policyholders with such a
reduction.
The bulk of the PIP reforms passed this session go into
effect in January 2013. These reforms will allow
consumers to get the care they need after an accident
while ensuring that only legitimate claims are paid. In
short, these new provisions help return PIP to its
original mission — to provide emergency care after an
auto accident for those who may not have other health
care options, regardless of who is at fault.
These are the reforms that I believe will get at the
root of the abuses occurring in the current PIP system
and will go a long way in reducing your automobile
insurance rates.
I am eager to start seeing Floridians' auto insurance
rates go down and will continue to be a watchdog for
Florida's insurance consumers.
Jeff Atwater is Florida's chief financial officer and a
member of the Florida Cabinet. He oversees the
Department of Financial Services.