By Dan Bushell
Florida’s acupuncture physicians and massage therapists recently learned that they are (again) ineligible to be paid PIP benefits for treating automobile accident victims. Chiropractors learned that PIP coverage of their services has (again) been curtailed as well. But the changes may be temporary.
They resulted from a loss suffered by acupuncture physicians, massage therapists, and chiropractors in their court battle against implementation of the 2012 PIP Act amendments to Florida’s No-Fault insurance law, a/k/a PIP. Among other things, the 2012 PIP Act excludes acupuncture and massage therapy from PIP, and limits coverage of chiropractic treatment. Those provisions of the 2012 PIP Act had been put on hold due to a preliminary injunction entered by the Leon County Circuit Court.
The First District Court of Appeal set aside the preliminary injunction in its October 23, 2013 decision in McCarty v. Myers. But in appellate court decisions, as in many areas of life, the devil is often in the details. And the 1st DCA’s reasoning for overturning the injunction left room for acupuncture physicians, massage therapists, and chiropractors (and their patients) to be optimistic that their efforts to prevent the amendments from being implemented may eventually be successful.
Why? Because the decision came down to who was suing, not the merits of the claims. The litigation was brought by a group of practitioners who have banded together and hired attorneys to sue to block the 2012 PIP Act from going into effect.
Named as plaintiffs were three providers: an acupuncture physician, a chiropractic physician, and a massage therapist. Also named as a plaintiff was “Jane Doe,” who apparently is not a real person, but a fictitious person who was supposed to be a representive of “all those citizens of Florida that are, were, or will be injured as a result of a motor vehicle collision that were also required to purchase $10,000 . . . of PIP insurance coverage but may actually only receive no or $2,500 . . . in benefits.”
Under the doctrine of “standing,” a person or entity can sue only to seek relief for an injury that he/she/it suffered. Conversely, a person lacks standing to bring a legal claim to enforce the rights of others or of the general public.
The provider plaintiffs asserted that the 2012 PIP Act violated several provisions of the Florida Constitution. In entering the injunction, the trial court seized on one of
