Volume 9

9 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 487b

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Medical provider’s action against insurer — Provider’s motion for partial summary judgment granted with respect to insurer’s affirmative defenses that provider did not have valid assignment of benefits and that provider lacked standing because the patient had previously assigned benefits to another provider — Medical provider is not precluded from accepting an assignment of benefits and seeking payment from PIP insurer simply because patient provided a prior provider with an assignment of benefits

9 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 326b

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Dispute between medical provider and insurer — Standing — Assignment — Document which authorizes and directs payment of benefits to medical provider and assigns to provider any causes of action insured may have against any insurance obligated to insured for payment of service and treatment does not indicate that the insurance policy was assigned and is not invalid pursuant to policy provision prohibiting assignment of any interest in the policy without written consent of insurer — There is no unbargained-for risk to insurer from assignment since assignment occurred after date of loss, which by terms of policy occurred at time of accident, not at time PIP benefits became overdue

9 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 334b

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Medical provider which referred and coordinated scheduling of insured’s MRI with entity which performed MRI did not render any necessary medical, surgical, x-ray, dental, and rehabilitative services to the insured and is not entitled to payment of any PIP benefits under insurance contract and section 627.736 — Medical provider’s arrangement with actual provider of MRI services, whereby MRI provider billed referring medical provider, and referring medical provider, in turn, billed insurer an increased amount for the MRI is unlawful and in violation of section 817.505 — Summary judgment granted in favor of insurer

9 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 878a

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Assignment — PIP portion of provider’s financial policy form did not transfer any rights or interests in PIP policy to provider or authorize provider to act on behalf of insured to collect any unpaid balances, but actually placed responsibility for payment of unpaid balance on insured — Further, neither party to financial policy considered document to be an assignment of benefits — Insurer’s motion for summary judgment in action brought by insured for amounts not paid to provider denied

9 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 55a

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Dispute between medical provider and insurer — Standing — Assignment — Where document calls itself an assignment and transfers the right to receive insurance proceeds from insured to medical provider, and it is apparent from insurer’s direct payments to medical provider that insurer regarded itself as justified in paying the medical provider claiming to be assignee, document is valid assignment despite fact that insured remains responsible for payment and collection efforts — Insurer’s motion for summary judgment denied

9 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 485a

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Assignment — Purported assignment which included provision that insured remain personally responsible for total amounts due assignees for their services and that assignees could demand payments from insured immediately upon rendering service, at their option, was not valid assignment — Any purported assignment would be ineffective and inoperative in any event in view of clear and unambiguous provision of policy prohibiting assignment without insurer’s consent — Although policy provision requiring consent of insurer to transfer an interest does not apply to assignment after loss, purported assignment in present case occurred prior to any loss being sustained

9 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 330a

Insurance — Dispute between medical provider and insurer — Assignment — Insurer’s motion for summary judgment is granted where purported assignment and HCFA forms do not identify insurance company in which insured was assigning her rights

9 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 117a

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Assignment — Exhaustion of benefits — Insurer is not liable under insurance contract for unpaid medical bills of assignee/healthcare provider where insurer had paid out full amount of benefits under contract when assignee filed suit for unpaid bills — Assignee under an insurance contract can receive no greater rights than assignor had under said contract

9 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 553a

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Standing — Assignment — Authorization for direct payment in which insured expressly reserved the right to file complaint is not an assignment — Where insured replaced unqualified assignment with new document retaining right to proceed to suit for insured, new document supercedes the assignment — Insurer’s motion for summary judgment denied

9 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 365a

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Standing — Letter executed by insurer, promising to indemnify insured if her medical provider initiated legal action to collect unpaid balances, does not result in enforceable amendment to insurance contract that divests insured of standing to sue in her own capacity — Assignment — Although insured executed an assignment to one medical provider, she retained standing as to other medical providers — Authorizations for direct payment on HCFA forms did not give rise to assignments, equitable or otherwise — Despite fact that remaining outstanding balances are so stale that the health care providers cannot now go after insured for their balances, where action being taken by insured may properly be taken, and it was timely, statute of limitations argument is without merit — Error for trial court to enter summary judgment in favor of insurer — Remand to determine reasonableness of insurer’s reductions in payments