Florida's Poor Citizens Struggle may be over Oct 1st

That is RIGHT! The Auto Insurance Tyranny may be OVER come Oct 1st

It isn't making the Local Paper happy though or should I say that the Herald Tribune is printing Stories that the Insurance Lobby approves of. An Associated Press Article in the Sarasota Herald Tribune said: It would leave that 20 percent of Floridians who have inadequate or no health insurance unable to pay their medical bills if injured in traffic accidents, CFO Alex Sink said.

"That's serious," Sink said.

Well Mr Sink. We also have to be able to pay our Bills that are forever growing at a pace that we can not keep pace with. Is the only way we can see a Doctor only through having a car accident with an insured Driver?


I am so tired of paying extortion that is disguised as auto insurance.

"We just have to get prepared for an entirely different new environment that we in Florida haven't experienced for 35 years," Sink said. "And we're not prepared."

I am prepared! I remember 35 years ago in a Florida with out Police State enforcement of required auto insurance.

Here is the article

Florida could become only state without auto insurance requirement

TALLAHASSEE -- Florida would be the only state without a requirement for drivers to have bodily injury liability coverage if the present no-fault insurance system expires, the state's chief financial officer said Wednesday.

It would leave that 20 percent of Floridians who have inadequate or no health insurance unable to pay their medical bills if injured in traffic accidents, CFO Alex Sink said.

"That's serious," Sink said.

If no-fault expires, motorists still will be required to carry liability insurance for property damage.

The present no-fault requirement for personal injury protection, or PIP, will automatically expire Oct. 1 unless the Legislature passes a law to continue it.

Mandatory PIP covers up to $10,000 in medical expenses due to auto accidents regardless of who is at fault. Drivers also can buy bodily injury insurance to cover additional injuries they may cause to other people, but it is not required because PIP covers at least part of that liability.

Sink and Gov. Charlie Crist have joined the state's hospitals in urging lawmakers to continue no-fault. Insurance companies, though, have argued the system is so riddled with fraud that it should be allowed to die.

The Legislature could reinstate no-fault — likely with new anti-fraud provisions — or pass a law to require mandatory bodily injury coverage when it meets in a special session tentatively set for Sept. 18 to cut the state's budget.

Christopher Moya, spokesman for Floridians for Lower Insurance Costs, a group that includes the state's major auto insurers, downplayed the significance of a bodily injury requirement. That is because 92 percent of motorists already purchase the optional liability coverage, he said.

"Making it mandatory really is a wash when you consider that somewhere between 6 and 8 percent of Florida's drivers at the present moment have no insurance of any kind and are in violation of the law," Moya said.

He said other auto coverages would pick up 80 percent of medical expenses resulting from traffic accidents even if no-fault expires.

Besides fraud, insurers have another problem with the present no-fault system because there are no limits on how much doctors and hospitals can charge for various procedures and tests.

Moya said no-fault might be acceptable if lawmakers added a fee schedule and limited procedures, tests and lawyer fees, but he said "that's a question for the Legislature."

Sink and Crist acknowledged the insurance industry and trial lawyers, who also oppose continuing no-fault, appear to have the upper hand in the contest for legislative votes.

"If the Legislature doesn't come to a consensus real soon it doesn't look likely" no-fault can be saved, Crist said.

The governor, though, said he does not plan to prod the Legislature by proposing his own no-fault legislation.

"I have found it's better to have a consensus than to attempt to drive" lawmakers to action, Crist said. "When I was a state senator I didn't appreciate being driven, and I don't think they do either."

Sink agreed no-fault seems headed for expiration.

"We just have to get prepared for an entirely different new environment that we in Florida haven't experienced for 35 years," Sink said. "And we're not prepared."

She said Floridians should check with their insurance agents or the Florida Department of Financial Services Web site, http://www.fldfs.com , for assistance.

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