Volume 27

27 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 675a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2708BEDOInsurance — Personal injury protection — Coverage — Medical expenses — Reasonableness of charges — Summary judgment — Affidavit of medical provider’s operations manager was not sufficient to sustain provider’s burden on motion for summary judgment on issue of reasonableness of charges where affidavit was conclusory and was not accompanied by documents referenced therein — Even if burden for summary judgment shifted to insurer, trial court erred by rejecting opposing affidavit of adjuster where adjuster was qualified to opine as expert on reasonableness of charges, and her opinions were based on her experience and fee schedules — Fact that adjuster referenced Medicare, HMO and PPO reimbursement rates does not invalidate her opinion — Reversed and remanded

27 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 3a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2701NAVAInsurance — Personal injury protection — Coverage — Medical expenses — Reasonableness of charges — Summary judgment — Trial court erred in excluding opposing affidavit filed by insurer on issue of reasonableness of charges for x-ray services in reliance on Daubert standard that Florida Supreme Court has declined to adopt — Under appropriate standard, affidavit in form of pure opinion testimony and offering opinion based on clinical experience, examination of medical records, analysis of quality and quantity of experience involved, and on research on fee schedules and fee awards was legally sufficient to withstand summary judgment motion

27 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 186a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2702AGUIInsurance — Personal injury protection — Coverage — Medical expenses — Reasonableness of charges — Summary judgment — Opposing affidavit filed by insurer does not preclude summary judgment in favor of medical provider on issue of reasonableness of charges where affidavit is conclusory and contains pure opinion that is based on nothing but affiant’s own experience — Relatedness and medical necessity of treatment — Opposing affidavit does not preclude summary judgment on issues of relatedness and necessity of treatment where affidavit is conclusory and attempts to raise issues of sufficiency of records, unbundling/upcoding, and services not rendered that were not timely raised in affirmative defenses

27 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 13a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2701ASTOInsurance — Personal injury protection — Standing — Where complaint was originally filed in name of medical provider’s employer contending that it was doing business as provider, but assignment of benefits was in name of provider only, trial court did not err in allowing amendment of complaint to name only provider as plaintiff — Coverage — Medical expenses — Summary judgment — Trial court did not err in finding that opposing affidavit filed by insurer did not preclude summary judgment in favor of provider on issue of necessity of reading and interpreting x-rays where affiant failed to identify why it was unnecessary to read and interpret x-rays once they had been taken — Additionally, trial court correctly concluded that affidavit did not present genuine issue of material fact on issue of reasonableness of charges where affiant opined that fee schedule amounts were maximum reasonable charges, but insurer did not elect fee schedule method of reimbursement in policy

27 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 125a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2702SOUZInsurance — Personal injury protection — Coverage — Medical expenses — Reasonableness of charges — Summary judgment — Trial court erred in allowing insurer to survive motion for summary judgment on issue of reasonableness of charges based on purported affidavits that were not properly notarized and in which affiant did not swear to contents of affidavits — Jury verdict reversed and remanded with instructions to enter summary judgment in favor of medical provider

27 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 993b

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2712DIAZInsurance — Personal injury protection — Coverage — Medical expenses — Reasonableness of charges — Summary judgment — Opposing affidavits filed by insurer precluded summary judgment in favor of medical provider on issue of reasonableness of charges where affidavits created genuine issue of material fact

27 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 225c

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2703JRODNOT FINAL VERSION OF OPINION
Subsequent Changes at 27 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 501aInsurance — Personal injury protection — Coverage — Medical expenses — Reasonableness of charges — Summary judgment — Opposing affidavit filed by insurer was sufficient to preclude summary judgment in favor of medical provider on issue of reasonableness of charges — Affidavit was not conclusory and provided sufficient evidence to survive summary judgment

27 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 223a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2703JAMEInsurance — Personal injury protection — Coverage — Medical expenses — Reasonableness of charges — Summary judgment — Trial court did not err in finding that medical provider met initial burden on summary judgment on issue of reasonableness of charges for reading MRI — Affidavit of medical provider’s operations and billing manager in support of motion for summary judgment is not deficient for failing to attach documents to support her conclusion that provider has been reimbursed by PIP insurers at 80% of billed amount where testimony was based on personal knowledge that affiant would necessarily possess in her position — No abuse of discretion in ruling that opposing affidavit filed by insurer was insufficient to preclude summary judgment where “facts and data” relied upon in affidavit are limited to self-serving and anecdotal statements — Insurer’s belated constitutional challenge to section 90.702, arguing that it was denied procedural due process because trial court applied Daubert standard rather than Frye standard, is rejected where there is no fundamental error since insurer was not prevented from presenting expert witness’s testimony; it presented testimony and that testimony, once presented, was rejected by trial court

27 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 791b

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2709CASTInsurance — Personal injury protection — Coverage — Medical expenses — Reasonableness of charges — Summary judgment — Error to strike insurer’s expert affidavit and enter summary judgment on reasonableness issue

27 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 790a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2709YRODInsurance — Personal injury protection — Coverage — Medical expenses — Reasonableness of charges — Error to strike affidavit of insurer’s expert