Published by the Orlando Sentinel
March 27, 2017
An effort to ditch Florida’s no-fault auto insurance system is again on the move in the Legislature as reforms championed in 2012 by Gov. Rick Scott and state Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater haven’t held.
The legislation is projected to save motorists an average of about $80 a year per policy.
However, the proposal (HB 1063) could be another exercise in wheel spinning, similar to past legislative sessions. Some members of the House Insurance & Banking Subcommittee, which voted 12-2 for the bill, expressed a need for the measure to address issues, such as changes in the state’s bad-faith law, to reduce the potential for increases in lawsuits and lengthy delays in medical payments.
“If it gets to the floor without some provision for paying the medical providers and some reform on bad faith to keep the rates down, I won’t be able to support it,” said Rep. George Moraitis, a Fort Lauderdale Republican who voted for the measure on Monday.
