A federal judge recently denied a motion for summary judgment in a case brought by a health insurance policyholder. The woman claimed her insurer acted in bad faith when it denied payment for a residential program to treat her anorexia. The case was not in Florida; the ultimate outcome, though, could influence bad faith claims across the country.
Proposed legislation that would substantially change existing insurance law barely made it out of the Judiciary Committee of the Florida State Senate this week. For some members of the committee, the bad faith provision of Senate Bill 1592 is especially troubling. The bill is supposed to encourage settlements “in a fair and objective manner,” according to the sponsor. Opponents, however, say the bill, in effect, is killing an ant with an elephant.
The term “bad faith insurance” describes situations in which an insurance company refuses to pay claims that are covered under the policy. One example is a car insurance company that says they will not pay damages related to a car crash caused by a driver they cover.
