Florida lawmakers send lifeline to families with brain-damaged children Daniel Chang and Carol Marbin Miller, The Miami Herald
Apr. 30 After a dramatic and emotional 72 hours in Tallahassee, Florida lawmakers late Thursday approved a sweeping overhaul of the state s controversial compensation program for catastrophically brain-damaged newborns, agreeing to a package of reforms meant to improve the lives of struggling families.
The legislation revamping the Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Association, or NICA, delivers new benefits and protections for 215 families in the program, including mental health services, representation on the board of directors and retroactive compensation of $150,000.
The bill now goes to the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis. If he signs the legislation, the new provisions will take effect immediately.
Florida lawmakers send lifeline to families with brain-damaged newborns
The weekâs drama heralds a new reality for hundreds of families scattered throughout the state.
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Delaina Parrish is today able to communicate because of a machine that translates her eye movements into words. The machine came from the manufacturer, not from Floridaâs Birth-related Neurological Injury Compensation Association, or NICA. She recently graduated from the University of Florida. [ EMILY MICHOT | Miami Herald ]
By Daniel Chang and Carol Marbin Miller, Miami Herald
Published Yesterday
Updated Yesterday
After a dramatic and emotional 72 hours in Tallahassee, Florida lawmakers late Thursday approved a sweeping overhaul of the stateâs controversial compensation program for catastrophically brain-damaged newborns â agreeing to a package of reforms meant to improve the lives of struggling families.
Florida lawmakers put brakes on âNo Faultâ auto insurance
In a bill that now goes to Gov. Ron DeSantis, the requirement for carrying so-called PIP coverage would end and motorists would need to have bodily-injury coverage.
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By Jim Turner
Updated Apr. 30
TALLAHASSEE â Florida motorists are one step closer to no longer having âno faultâ auto insurance, after lawmakers Friday approved ditching the decades-old system and its requirement of carrying personal-injury protection coverage.
The House and Senate signed off on a heavily negotiated bill (SB 54) in the closing hours of the 2021 legislative session. If the bill is signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the requirement for carrying so-called PIP coverage would end and motorists would need to have bodily-injury coverage.
In some respects, COVID sucked the soul out of this year s legislative session.
A closed Capitol kept away the usual throngs who come to protest in the rotunda, attend the themed days or just watch the process at work from the 5th floor galleries.
Renovations underway outside even resulted in the boxing off and shutting down of the fan-favorite dolphin fountain, a go-to picture-taking spot for school kids who would visit from around the Big Bend.
But that didn t stop The Process, as Tallahassee insiders like to refer to the sausage-making of the 60-day session.
After passing next fiscal year s $100 billion-plus state budget, lawmakers adjourned Friday at 2:40 p.m., quickly followed by the traditional hanky drop that signals the end.
TALLAHASSEE Florida motorists are one step closer to no longer having “no fault” auto insurance, after lawmakers Friday approved ditching the decades-old system and its requirement of carrying personal-injury protection coverage.
The House and Senate signed off on a heavily negotiated bill (SB 54) in the closing hours of the 2021 legislative session. If the bill is signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the requirement for carrying so-called PIP coverage would end and motorists would need to have bodily-injury coverage.
“You may not like every bit of this bill, but, you know, Florida s got to do something about their car insurance,” Rep. Matt Willhite, D-Wellington, said in backing the legislation. “Twenty-five percent of the population in Florida doesn t even have car insurance.”