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Florida Prepares to Say Goodbye to PIP--Set to Exclude Chiropractic for Injured Drivers
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It is REPORTED HERE that "a House committee on Wednesday scrapped the personal injury protection (PIP) no-fault program by passing a bill that establishes Emergency Care Coverage instead. Like PIP, ECC will provide $10,000 in benefits but care would be limited to emergency transport and treatment by licensed ambulance providers; emergency services and care rendered at a hospital within 72 hours of an accident; and inpatient hospital admissions within 72 hours of an accident."

"Care can be rendered after the 72-hour cutoff so long as it is for an emergency medical condition related to a diagnosis arising from a motor vehicle accident. Care also must be administered by a licensed physician, a licensed dentist, a licensed physician's assistant or a licensed nurse practitioner. Chiropractors and massage therapists would be precluded from providing care to injured drivers and passengers."

"The ECC language appeared in a proposed committee bill that was deliberated by members of the House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee on Wednesday. It was passed by a 10-5 vote and along party lines."

"…. hospital emergency room costs generally are some of the highest in the health care delivery system and the requirement drivers seek care there could actually increase PIP costs for Florida drivers. A Jacksonville lawyer … said directing people to a hospital ER and not to their primary care doctor is counterintuitive to what the state has been encouraging for years: to stay away from emergency rooms."

"Gov. Rick Scott says fraudulent activity amounts to a $900 million annual tax on Florida drivers.'I am assuming the true medical providers, doctors, hospitals and the like, are not the ones committing the fraud. It's these sham clinics. If you go to the hospital ER with a staged accident it's not going to take them long to decide you are not really hurt. Professional providers, I would have to assume, are not causing the problem.'"

"Under the new ECC no-fault system, attorneys' fees would be capped and an attorney could not received more than $15,000 per case. The caps under the new ECC program are the same caps that the underlying bill, HB 119, put in place for PIP."

"The PCB places reimbursement schedules. Emergency transport is set at 200 percent of Medicare levels, while reimbursement for emergency services provided by a hospital is set at 75 percent of the facility's usual and customary charges. For emergency care provided in a facility licensed under a hospital and provided by a physician or dentist, rates are set at the usual and customary charge for a community. Hospital inpatient services would be capped at 200 percent of the Medicare Part A prospective payment."

"…. the Office of Insurance Regulation, said the OIR was 110 percent behind the bill."

"Florida Gov.Rick Scott said requiring injured drivers and passengers to go to the emergency room is one way to prevent fraud in the system. Requiring all clinics to be licensed is another potential route, he said, adding that he thinks the House bill is good and he's supportive of it."

"There's lot of different ways to solve the problem, but one of the ways is to do that," Scott said of referring patients to hospitals. "But we got to figure it out. This is costing us a significant amount of money every year. Costing consumers that amount of money."

 
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Most Recent Comments
Added: January 27, 2012. 10:26 PM CDT
Professional Providers?!!!
Given that the word is that the Florida board exams are some of the toughest around, I must assume they have a Florida Board of Chiropractic Examiners. If said Examiners are established by the State and grant licenses to practice, I would like to assume licensees are then technically professionals.

The OIR is staffed by...you guessed it, the insurance industry! It identified a vote down party lines, but didn't identify parties, nor did it say if PT's can treat them. That's irrelevant because our lack of recognition in Texas and now as Florida as primary care providers is leading down a path back in time 70 years!

The question is this: If we don't intervene and stop this, how many of us will proudly continue adjusting spines while in jail as our predecessors did?
Insulted in Corpus Christi
Added: January 18, 2012. 07:53 PM CDT
SHAM
This will not solve anything, using the official disability guidelines (ODG) will. Many of these cases need chiropractic or physical therapy along with OTC medication, not emergency care. This will only congest the emergency rooms even more and will violate the Health Care Freedom Act, which basically gives a patient choice for their care. How is it the Insurance Companies still make really good profits every year and second how is it the whole purpose of this type of insurance is to have necessary treatment covered, politics and business are in bed together it seems.
El Paso Chiropractor
 
 
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