Despite compelling evidence highlighting a crisis in personal injury protection (PIP) claim fraud, the Legislature once again did not pass proposals that proponents argued would meaningfully reduce such fraud. The issues were separated into two proposals — one that dealt primarily with attorney's fees and medical provider examinations (H.B. 967 by Rep. Mike Horner and S.B. 1694 by Sen. Garrett Richter), and one that dealt more broadly with issues related to PIP fraud (H.B. 1411 by Rep. Jim Boyd and S.B. 1930 by Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff). Both proposals encountered significant opposition in the House and Senate from trial attorneys and physician groups.
Various members of the Legislature tried to amend some of these issues onto other bills; however, only two issues survived on bills that passed the Legislature: S.B. 2160 (containing language relating to expanded use of long form crash reports) and H.B. 1087 (creating civil monetary penalties for motor vehicle insurance fraud). Subject to the governor's signature, these bills will take effect July 1, 2011.
