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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to attorney fees and costs for motor 2
vehicle personal injury protection benefits; amending 3
s. 627.736, F.S.; providing that prevailing parties in 4
suits by certain health care providers for overdue 5
medical benefits under motor vehicle personal injury 6
protection policies are entitled to reasonable 7
attorney fees and costs; providing an effective date. 8
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 10
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Section 1. Paragraph (f) is added to subsection (10) of 12
section 627.736, Florida Statutes, and paragraph (a) of 13
subsection (1) of that section is republished, to read: 14
627.736 Required personal injury protection benefits; 15
exclusions; priority; claims.— 16
(1) REQUIRED BENEFITS. —An insurance policy complying with 17
the security requirements of s. 627.733 must provide personal 18
injury protection to the named insured, relatives residing in 19
the same household unless excluded under s. 627.747, pe rsons 20
operating the insured motor vehicle, passengers in the motor 21
vehicle, and other persons struck by the motor vehicle and 22
suffering bodily injury while not an occupant of a self -23
propelled vehicle, subject to subsection (2) and paragraph 24
(4)(e), to a limit of $10,000 in medical and disability benefits 25
HB 1437 2025
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
and $5,000 in death benefits resulting from bodily injury, 26
sickness, disease, or death arising out of the ownership, 27
maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle as follows: 28
(a) Medical benefits. —Eighty percent of all reasonable 29
expenses for medically necessary medical, surgical, X -ray, 30
dental, and rehabilitative services, including prosthetic 31
devices and medically necessary ambulance, hospital, and nursing 32
services if the individual receives initial services an d care 33
pursuant to subparagraph 1. within 14 days after the motor 34
vehicle accident. The medical benefits provide reimbursement 35
only for: 36
1. Initial services and care that are lawfully provided, 37
supervised, ordered, or prescribed by a physician licensed u nder 38
chapter 458 or chapter 459, a dentist licensed under chapter 39
466, a chiropractic physician licensed under chapter 460, or an 40
advanced practice registered nurse registered under s. 464.0123 41
or that are provided in a hospital or in a facility that owns, 42
or is wholly owned by, a hospital. Initial services and care may 43
also be provided by a person or entity licensed under part III 44
of chapter 401 which provides emergency transportation and 45
treatment. 46
2. Upon referral by a provider described in subparagrap h 47
1., followup services and care consistent with the underlying 48
medical diagnosis rendered pursuant to subparagraph 1. which may 49
be provided, supervised, ordered, or prescribed only by a 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
physician licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459, a 51
chiropractic physician licensed under chapter 460, a dentist 52
licensed under chapter 466, or an advanced practice registered 53
nurse registered under s. 464.0123, or, to the extent permitted 54
by applicable law and under the supervision of such physician, 55
osteopathic physician, chiropractic physician, or dentist, by a 56
physician assistant licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459 or 57
an advanced practice registered nurse licensed under chapter 58
464. Followup services and care may also be provided by the 59
following persons or enti ties: 60
a. A hospital or ambulatory surgical center licensed under 61
chapter 395. 62
b. An entity wholly owned by one or more physicians 63
licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459, chiropractic 64
physicians licensed under chapter 460, advanced practice 65
registered nurses registered under s. 464.0123, or dentists 66
licensed under chapter 466 or by such practitioners and the 67
spouse, parent, child, or sibling of such practitioners. 68
c. An entity that owns or is wholly owned, directly or 69
indirectly, by a hospital or ho spitals. 70
d. A physical therapist licensed under chapter 486, based 71
upon a referral by a provider described in this subparagraph. 72
e. A health care clinic licensed under part X of chapter 73
400 which is accredited by an accrediting organization whose 74
standards incorporate comparable regulations required by this 75
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state, or 76
(I) Has a medical director licensed under chapter 458, 77
chapter 459, or chapter 460; 78
(II) Has been continuously licensed for more than 3 years 79
or is a publicly traded corporation that issues securities 80
traded on an exchange registered with the United States 81
Securities and Exchange Commission as a national securities 82
exchange; and 83
(III) Provides at least four of the following medical 84
specialties: 85
(A) General medicine. 86
(B) Radiography. 87
(C) Orthopedic medicine. 88
(D) Physical medicine. 89
(E) Physical therapy. 90
(F) Physical rehabilitation. 91
(G) Prescribing or dispensing outpatient prescription 92
medication. 93
(H) Laboratory services. 94
3. Reimbursement for services and care provided in 95
subparagraph 1. or subparagraph 2. up to $10,000 if a physician 96
licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459, a dentist licensed 97
under chapter 466, a physician assistant licensed under chapter 98
458 or chapter 459, or an advanced practice registered nurse 99
licensed under chapter 464 has determined that the injured 100
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person had an emergency medical condition. 101
4. Reimbursement for services and care provided in 102
subparagraph 1. or subparagraph 2. is limited to $2,500 if a 103
provider listed in subparagraph 1. or subp aragraph 2. determines 104
that the injured person did not have an emergency medical 105
condition. 106
5. Medical benefits do not include massage therapy as 107
defined in s. 480.033 or acupuncture as defined in s. 457.102, 108
regardless of the person, entity, or licensee providing massage 109
therapy or acupuncture, and a licensed massage therapist or 110
licensed acupuncturist may not be reimbursed for medical 111
benefits under this section. 112
6. The Financial Services Commission shall adopt by rule 113
the form that must be used by an insurer and a health care 114
provider specified in sub -subparagraph 2.b., sub -subparagraph 115
2.c., or sub-subparagraph 2.e. to document that the health care 116
provider meets the criteria of this paragraph. Such rule must 117
include a requirement for a sworn stateme nt or affidavit. 118
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Only insurers writing motor vehicle liability insurance in this 120
state may provide the required benefits of this section, and 121
such insurer may not require the purchase of any other motor 122
vehicle coverage other than the purchase of property damage 123
liability coverage as required by s. 627.7275 as a condition for 124
providing such benefits. Insurers may not require that property 125
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
damage liability insurance in an amount greater than $10,000 be 126
purchased in conjunction with personal injury protectio n. Such 127
insurers shall make benefits and required property damage 128
liability insurance coverage available through normal marketing 129
channels. An insurer writing motor vehicle liability insurance 130
in this state who fails to comply with such availability 131
requirement as a general business practice violates part IX of 132
chapter 626, and such violation constitutes an unfair method of 133
competition or an unfair or deceptive act or practice involving 134
the business of insurance. An insurer committing such violation 135
is subject to the penalties provided under that part, as well as 136
those provided elsewhere in the insurance code. 137
(10) DEMAND LETTER; ATTORNEY FEES AND COSTS .— 138
(f) If the insurer fails to pay an overdue medical benefit 139
for any service or care described in subp aragraph (1)(a)1. or 140
subparagraph (1)(a)2. and the provider who rendered the service 141
or care files a lawsuit, the prevailing party, by judgment or 142
decree at the trial or appellate court, is entitled to 143
reasonable attorney fees and costs. 144
Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 145