The real problem with the article is that it is such a departure from the mainstream thinking that it reeks of manipulation.  The placement, tone and coordinated pairing articles on the same page appear to support a political objective and candidate.  Is it a mere coincidence that the article’s first paragraph suggests the “troubling incident” was linked to a student’s sexual orientation, and then another article (immediately to the left on page 1) discusses the President’s evolution on gay marriage?  A look at page 2 confirms the coordination with an article suggesting that the Republican candidate is a bully.  Whatever happened to the real news — the economy, the falloff in job creation, workers leaving the job market, the deficit, and so on. 

Was this biased reported an isolated incident?  No, it is happening at an increasing rate and at other newspapers too.  The placement, tone and coordination of the articles should require a “paid for” disclaimer – but there is none to be found.  As a result, I could finally read no more.  So, like so many others before me, today I cancelled my subscription to the Washington Post.

• TCPalm on 4/26/2012 (click here to go to the page)  
• The Ledger on 4/28/2012 (click here to go to the page)

On March 9, 2012, a bill was passed in the Florida House and Senate to reform PIP and reduce fraud.  The bill is intended to rein in the cottage industry of trial attorneys and corrupt medical clinics, and create new fraud-fighting tools and reduce costs, while passing the cost-savings along to consumers in the form of lower rates.  In fact, the legislation prescribes that PIP insurers make rate reductions of 10% by October 1, 2012 and 25% by January 1, 2014, or provide a detailed explanation if insurers fail to provide these full reductions.

 It all sounds good, but lower prices first require less fraud, which raises two challenges for policymakers to consider.  First, the bill does not take effect until July 1, 2012, providing little opportunity for cost-savings to occur and for consumers to see lower rates by October 1st.  The promise of lower rates, while sounding Charlie Crist-like, provides an unrealistic goal that may doom the bill’s success.  That would be unfortunate for consumers.

Second, the cottage industry of trial attorneys, medical clinics and fraudsters that feed on PIP dollars may already be looking to exploit loopholes in the new law, according to recent news articles.  For example, one Tampa medical staffing company has offered to send doctors to chiropractors’ offices to sign forms and get more insurance dollars, stating:

“Chiropractors: Don’t miss out on your $7,500.00!  We have the medical doctors you need now! …The full $10,000 PIP medical benefit is available only if a physician, osteopathic physician, dentist, or supervised physician’s assistant or advanced registered nurse practitioner determines that the insured has an emergency medical condition. Otherwise, the PIP medical benefit is limited to $2,500…..Our physicians will do assessments, fill out and sign forms that state the insured has an emergency medical condition.” 

This kind of action appears to undermine the cost-saving provisions in the new bill.  One thing is certain – higher industry costs from fraud and lower consumer prices cannot happen at the same time. 

As the head of an organization that fights for consumers, I applaud Governor Scott, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater and legislators for taking bold steps to fix the state’s historically problematic no-fault auto insurance system.  Now is the time for vigilance. 

Let’s reduce the fraud today, so that consumers can see the benefits tomorrow.

Steve Pociask is President of the American Consumer Institute Center for Citizen Research, a consumer educational and research nonprofit institute

Published in the Tallahassee Democrat on 4/20/2012

We support the FCC’s action against Google, but this small fine will not serve to change the behavior of a company with a market capitalization in excess of $200 billion. The company has consistently shown disregard for consumer privacy, and its pattern of action warrants greater scrutiny by regulators and members of Congress.

Because Google has dragged its feet with the FCC and consistently shows itself unresponsive to privacy concerns, it is time for Members of Congress to get to the bottom of the Wi-Spy matter by holding hearings on Capitol Hill. Google must operate within U.S. privacy and consumer protection laws, and hearings will give the company an opportunity to explain how it will prevent future violations.