The first meeting of a working group established by Florida Insurance ConsumerAdvocate Robin Westcott to tackle the increasing cost ofPersonal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage will be held on Thursday,September 15. Subsequent meetings will be held on September 26 andOctober 10. All meetings will take place in Tallahassee at theCapitol Complex, House Office Building Committee Room 404 startingat 9:00 a.m. and ending at approximately 4:00 p.m. The meetings areopen to the public and there will be time set aside for publiccomments.

The working group includes law enforcement, consumer advocates,members of the insurance industry, medical providers, attorneys,and other professionals who have knowledge of the benefits andchallenges of the no-fault system. Participants include:

• Westcott
• Marc Slager, deputy chief of staff, director of Cabinetaffairs, executive office of Gov. Rick Scott
• James Knudson, Esq., senior attorney, Florida SenateBanking and Insurance Committee
• Florida House of Representatives (monitoring)
• Detective Ron Cooper, Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office
• Howard Goldblatt, Coalition Against Insurance Fraud
• Brad Ashwell, Director, Florida Public Interest ResearchGroup
• Ralph Glatfelter, Florida Hospital Association
• Dr. Richard Thacker, DO, Florida Osteopathic MedicalAssociation
• Paul Watson Lambert, Esq., Florida Chiropractic Association,Inc.
• Jeffery M. Scott, Florida Medical Association
• Steven D. Smith, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Florida
• S. Grier Wells, Esq., board of governors, Florida Bar
• Todd Copeland, Esq., Florida Justice Association
• René Hernández, Esq., Florida Insurance Council, Inc.
• Lynne McChristian, Insurance Information Institute
• Alex M. Hageli, Esq., Property Casualty Insurers Association ofAmerica
• Allen McGlynn, Esq., State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins.Company
• Robert Simmons, Esq., Allstate
• Michael J. Neimand, Esq., United Automobile InsuranceCompany
• Major Simon Blank, Department of Financial Services, Divisionof Insurance Fraud
• R. Terry Butler, Esq., senior attorney, Office of the InsuranceConsumer Advocate
• Monte Stevens, director, governmental affairs, Office ofInsurance Regulation (Information/Technical Assistance)

Westcott will gather ideas from the working group to addressfraud and potential alternatives to Florida's current no-faultsystem and deliver a report to CFO Jeff Atwater by October 25.

The meetings will be broadcast on the Florida Channel. Theagenda and all pertinent meeting documents will be posted at awebsiteset up for the working group.