NEWS
Legislature Update May 14, 2009
Despite our best efforts to protect the limited rights injured workers have left in this State, our Florida Legislature have passed a bill they are seeking Governor Crist to approve hoping that either he will actually sign the bill into law or not sign the bill and it will become law without his signature.
You already know, firsthand, how oppressive and one-sided the workers compensation law is in Florida. You have limited money benefits; you have really no choice in medical care. Now, the Legislature wants the Governor to approve a bill (CS HB903) that would basically allow an insurance company to deny benefits that are due without any real concern of being responsible to pay reasonable attorneys fees on your behalf if a judge determines the benefits were wrongfully denied. That happens all the time!
Think about having to fight the insurance company on your own! You would have to know how to depose a doctor, you would have to know the procedural rules of workers compensation; you would have to know how to handle a trial. What would you do if you could not get help? This bill may very well prevent an injured worker from getting the help they need. It would certainly make an already "unlevel playing field" even worse for injured workers while protecting insurance carriers even more.
Please help. Make your voice heard. Make your concerns known.
Below is a SAMPLE ONLY letter. I would ask you to read it, write it in your own words. Use what you want. However, always be respectful to the Governor. Keep your letter short. Ask him to VETO this very bad bill.
Thank you for your help.
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Governor Charlie Crist
Office of the Governor
The Capitol
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001
Re: VETO CS HB903
Dear Governor Crist:
I write this letter requesting that you VETO CS HB903. I cannot understand how any law intended to remove the word "reasonable" can be reasonable. This bad bill would give powerful insurance companies even more control over those individual Floridians needing help the most. It would basically prevent injured Floridians the ability to hire an attorney when insurance companies wrongfully deny much needed benefits that would help an injured worker simply to recover from their injuries. If insurance companies would just approve the necessary benefits in the first place, there would not be attorney's fees possibly due in the first place. This bad bill would take away any incentive insurance companies have to provide already limited but necessary benefits to injured workers. Please VETO this bad bill. This bill would only hurt the working Floridian in their greatest time of need. Sincerely, A Concerned Citizen
Wieland Hilado & DeLattre. Representing injured victims and their families for more than 25 years.
