Jacob Ogles
A new advocacy group is releasing polling that suggests Floridians don’t want more protections for the insurance industry.
Accountable Florida published survey results from Metropolitan Research that show most Floridians opposed to legislation billed as tort reform.
“While insurance companies want to limit medical payments, blame motorcyclists for injuries caused by others when they are following the law and exercising their right to ride free in Florida, and deny health care coverage outright, Florida voters have spoken, and they want lawmakers to say no to HB 837/SB 236,” reads a press release from the group.
The poll tested public opinion on a number of liability issues, with respondents consistently siding with protections for consumers instead of carriers.
About 58% of voters said if a motorcyclist rides without a helmet — which is legal under Florida law for those older than 21 — and is struck by another driver, insurers should not be allowed to deny coverage. Only 32% said they do think insurance companies should be able to deny coverage.
Moreover, 77% of respondents said if a pregnant mother is hurt or killed in an accident, she or survivors should be able to recover damages for the unborn child. Only 11% said damages should not be available.
About 89% of those surveyed think insurance companies should remain responsible for all court costs if it’s determined the carriers wrongly denied coverage. Only 5% of voters wanted to eliminate one-way attorneys fees, a key part of proposals being heard now in the House and Senate.
As for a controversial proposal to eliminate a responsibility for apartment complexes to take appropriate measures to protect properties, 85% of respondents say landlords should be financially responsible for injuries or deaths resulting from lack of security, while just 8% disagreed.
Pollsters also asked what juries should be able to see when calculating damages in lawsuits. About 32% said there should be access to victim’s medical bills and 20% supported providing evidence of the prevailing cost in the area. About 26% said a combination of both of those things should be available.
Only 9% of those polled said jurors should only hear the Medicaid-approved reimbursement rates for medical costs, the method initially included in legislation filed.
The line of questions and the information on Accountable Florida suggest an agenda closely aligned with that of trial lawyers and the Florida Justice Association.
A domain for Accountable Florida was registered in December and the website bears a 2023 copyright, showing fairly new messaging for the group. A Twitter account for the group was started this month.
There’s no recently active political committee by that name, though an electioneering organization named Accountable Florida operated from 2012 to 2015.
7 comments
Dr. Franklin Waters
March 21, 2023 at 1:20 pm
This law is just more proof of what i’ve been saying for a long time.
There are only two kinds of Republicans:
A) Billionaires
B) Rubes
Kansas Gooden
March 21, 2023 at 6:11 pm
The questions asked on that poll are extremely skewed. They do not actually represent what the bill says or does. It is not surprising the pollster group is aligned with the trial bar. This plays right into their very false narrative.
FloridaisFree
March 22, 2023 at 1:45 pm
WRONG!
You must be with the insurance industry. This bill is a complete sell out to insurance companies — Desantis took in 3.3 million from insurance carriers, Patronis over $2 million.
It’s a disgusting piece of legislation and these senators and legislators will lose their seats for supporting it.
Scott Kruze
March 22, 2023 at 4:29 pm
Spoken like someone who isn’t in the industry and thus is spouting the florida bar talking points. And no, they won’t lose their seats either. Nice try though.
cassandra
March 22, 2023 at 9:43 pm
Spoken like someone who IS in the “industry” and is drooling all over himself thinking about collecting all those premiums and paying out nothing. Yeah, they’ll lose their seats. Voters are not as stupid as you are hoping.
Scott Kruze
March 22, 2023 at 2:51 pm
This is not a Matter for public polling. The only people who truly know how corrupt the system currently is are the people who work in the industry. The Civil plaintiffs attorneys have learned every possible way to game the system to make any claim, no matter how exaggerated, to seem like a million dollar claim to an unsuspecting jury.
And one way attorney fees brings suits for pip for $1 or 0.01, and just fighting over how many thousands the attorney gets for filing it.
On average the billed amounts for any treatment From auto accidents is 2-10 times what is reasonable. One injection and charge 27k dollars. One surgery and charge 125k. Never bill health insurance because they will cut them by 90%.
This reform will be a great step towards normalizing the auto insurance rates in Florida. But it will take 2-4 years for it to take effect, as we still have so many lawsuits under the old rules.
cassandra
March 22, 2023 at 11:01 pm
LOL… Not a matter for the public! Why don’t you go ahead and put that in your corporate advertisements. Which $Billion company is yours, anyway? And of course you know how corrupt!
The plaintiff attorney is working for the injured person. Stop trying to convince people that their own lawyer is their enemy..LOL..Pay injured people what you owe and you won’t be sued. Simple. Your choice.
These legislators will not be re-elected. And another reason DeSantis will be under 12% by the Republicans primaries.
Comments are closed.