Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...§ 400.991 (2009). One such exemption applies if the clinic is “wholly owned” by a licensed health care practitioner who supervises the business activities and is legally responsible for the entity’s compliance with all federal and state laws. See Fla. Stat. § 400.9905 (4)(g)....

...Motors Corp., 770 F.2d 984 , 986 (11th Cir.1985) (stating that “conclusory allegations without specific supporting facts have no probative value”). • III. ANALYSIS a. Florida Health Care Clinic Act Florida’s Health Care Clinic Act (“HCCA”), Fla. Stat. §§ 400.990 et seq., requires that all health care clinics be licensed by the AHCA unless they qualify for an exemption. Fla. Stat. § 400.991 . The express purpose of the HCCA “is to provide for the licensure, ■ establishment, and enforcement of basic standards for health care clinics and to provide administrative oversight by [the AHCA].” Fla. Stat. § 400.990 (2)....

...Stat. § 400.9935 (3). The HCCA allows for certain exemptions from mandatory licensure. One such exemption provides that a clinic is not required to be licensed if it is “wholly owned by one or more licensed health care practitioners.” Fla Stat. § 400.9905(4)(g)....

...The purpose of the HCCA “is to provide for the licensure, establishment, and enforcement of basic standards for health care clinics and to provide administrative oversight by [the Agency for Health Care Administration (the “AHCA”) ].” (Id. (citing Fla. Stat. § 400.990 (2)))....

...oes not substantially meet the applicable requirements of [section 627.736(5)(d) ].” Fla. Stat. § 627.736 (5)(b)(l)(d). B & A Diagnostic, Inc., 145 F.Supp.3d at 1163 . And further: Florida’s Health Care Clinic Act (“HCCA”), Fla. Stat. §§ 400.990 et seq., requires that all health care clinics be licensed by the AHCA unless they qualify for an exemption. Fla. Stat. § 400.991 . The express purpose of the HCCA “is to provide for the licensure, establishment, and enforcement of basic standards for health care clinics and to provide administrative oversight by [the AHCA].” Fla. Stat. § 400.990 (2)....

...which is wholly owned by one or more licensed health care practitioners ... so long as one of the owners who is a licensed health care practitioner is supervising the business activities and is legally responsible for the entity’s compliance with all federal and state laws. [ Fla. Stat. § 400.9905 (4)(g) ]....

...State Farm asserts that they are no longer pursuing their claim for conspiracy (Count III). See Pis.’ Mot. at 3 n.3. . In 2007, a licensed massage therapist was permitted to own a health care clinic without a license under the Health Care Clinic Act, Fla. Stat. § 400.990 et seq....

...y that wishes to receive PIP reimbursements , even if generally excluded from the definition of a "Clinic," will be deemed a "Clinic," and therefore must be a licensed "Clinic" under the Clinic Act in order to receive PIP reimbursements . Fla. Stat. § 400.9905 (4) ("[A]n entity shall be deemed a clinic and must be licensed under this part in order to receive reimbursement under the Florida Motor Vehicle No-Fault Law, ss....

...lative intent." E.A.R. v. State , 4 So.3d 614 , 629 (Fla. 2009) (citation omitted). Indeed, the PIP Statute and the Clinic Act are in pari materia as they refer to each other expressly and both have provisions concerning PIP benefits. See Fla. Stat. § 400.9905 (4) ; Fla....

...nsistent with the PIP Statute as the Clinic Act and the PIP Statute each proscribe separate yet consistent requirements that must be met in order for an entity to receive PIP reimbursements. 3 Compare *1298 Fla. Stat. § 400.9935 (3), and Fla. Stat. § 400.9905 (4), with Fla....

...reimbursements [ECF No. 39 at 11]. Rather, the Florida Legislature has determined that clinics can fall out of compliance with the Clinic Act and lose their ability to receive PIP reimbursements. See Fla. Stat. § 400.9935 (3) ; see also Fla. Stat. § 400.9905 (4)....

...Of course, these separate requirements make sense when viewed in the context of the separate purposes ascribed to the Clinic Act - general regulation of the licensure of healthcare clinics - and to the PIP Statute - regulation of no-fault insurance benefits. See Fla. Stat. § 400.990 (2) ("The Legislature finds that the regulation of health care clinics must be strengthened to prevent significant cost and harm to consumers....

...roader concerns the Clinic Act was designed to address. Notably, the limited exemptions found within Fla. Stat. § 627.736 (5)(h) are consistent in nature with the exclusions from the definition of a "Clinic" under the Clinic Act. Compare Fla. Stat. § 400.9905 (4), with Fla....

...more licensed health care practitioners . . . if one of the owners who is a licensed health care practitioner is supervising the business activities and is legally responsible for the entity’s compliance with all federal and state laws.” Id. § 400.9905(4)(g)....

...n an owner; on their interpreta- tion of the exemption, a clinic owner is simply monetarily liable for any violations of law by his clinics. This appeal thus turns on the meaning of the phrase “legally responsible” within § 400.9905(4)(g), Florida Statutes. The Florida Supreme Court, which is the final arbiter of Florida law, has not published a decision interpreting the statutory language at issue....

...ose clinics] and is legally respon- sible for [their] compliance with all federal and state laws.” LaRocca’s clinics subsequently received formal certificates of ex- emption from ACHA, affirming their exempt status under § 400.9905(4)(g) for a two-year period beginning on September 11, 2019. On October 29, 2021, State Farm sued LaRocca, five of the chiropractic clinics he owns and operates, and several of his co- owners...

...4th DCA 2023) (“[C]ourts are instructed to presume that the Legislature knows how to say what it means and that the differentiation in the lan- guage is intentional.” (internal quotations omitted))). In sum, the district court reasoned, the purpose of § 400.9905(4)(g) “is to identify who must own the entity in order to qualify for a wholly owned exemption and to delineate the owner/licensed health care practitioner’s role as supervising the business activities and bein...

...motion for reconsideration. Despite its decision not to proceed with its direct-kickback and patient-brokering theory of liability at trial, State Farm now asks us to adopt its definition of “legally re- sponsible” under § 400.9905(4)(g), under which an owner of a clinic violates the wholly owned exemption if he does not “assume[ ] a legal duty” to “ensure” that his clinics are complying (or at least “substantially” complying) with all federal and state laws....

...ecif., 4 The Clinic Act was enacted in 2003 based on the Florida Legislature’s finding “that the regulation of health care clinics must be strengthened to prevent sig- nificant cost and harm to consumers.” FLA STAT. § 400.990(2). USCA11 Case: 23-13979 Document: 70-1 Date Filed: 04/30/2025 Page: 12 of 15 12 Opinion of the Court 23-13979 marked by accountability to some higher autho...

...ughly ‘subject to some kind of liability,’” Am. Fam. Mut. Ins. Co. v. Williams, 832 F.3d 645, 648 (7th Cir. 2016), without any requirement of control or direction, we find that the term “legally responsible” within § 400.9905(4)(g) is suffi- ciently open to interpretation such that the Florida Supreme Court is best suited to tell us what the term means....

...Therefore, we certify to the Florida Supreme Court the fol- lowing question: 6 Under Florida law, what does it mean to be “legally responsible” within the meaning of Fla. Stat. § 400.9905(4)(g)? 5 Erie R.R....