On February 26, 2020, in Geico General Insurance Co. v. Beacon Healthcare Ctr. Inc. et al., No. 3D18-2030, the Florida Third DCA considered three consolidated appeals in which the Miami-Dade County Court had certified two questions of great public importance, both relating to whether physical therapy services (as distinguished from massage services) provided by a licensed massage therapist qualify for personal injury protection (PIP”) insurance reimbursement under Florida law. The PIP statute prohibits massage therapists from receiving PIP reimbursement. See § 627.736(1)(a)(5), Fla. Stat. (2019). The Third DCA concluded that while a licensed massage therapist can lawfully render physical therapy modalities pursuant to the exception set forth in the Physical Therapy Act, section 486.021(11), a health care clinic or provider licensed under part X Chapter 400 may not receive PIP reimbursements for physical therapy services enumerated in section 486.021(11) rendered by a licensed massage therapist employed by the clinic that is not “massage” as defined by section 480.033(3), because the plain language of the PIP statute precludes those reimbursements.
