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Active Spine Centers9/28/2005
Before RAMIREZ, and CORTIÑAS, JJ., and SCHWARTZ, Senior Judge.
Active Spine Centers, LLC appeals an order granting summary judgment in favor of State Farm Fire & Casualty Company in this declaratory judgment action. Active Spine claims that it was entitled to compensation for chiropractic services provided to patients who were insured with State Farm. We affirm because the trial court properly found that it was without authority to rewrite section 456.0375, Florida Statutes (2001), in order to carve out an exception not created by the Legislature or the Florida Department of Health.
Active Spine Centers, LLC, a chiropractic clinic in Miami-Dade County, Florida, has been providing medical services to individuals who have been injured in motor vehicle accidents and who are entitled to Personal Injury Protection benefits under automobile insurance policies. In 2001, the Florida Legislature enacted a registration statute, section 456.0375, Florida Statutes, which required that certain health care clinics, including chiropractic clinics, register with the Florida Department of Health. Evidently, intending to allow clinics time to comply with new registration duty, the legislature required " he clinic to file the registration form with the department within 60 days after the effective date of this section or prior to the inception of operation." § 456.0375(2)(b)1, Fla. Stat. (2003). The statute further provided certain exceptions to the registration requirement, including the following:
For purposes of this section, the term "clinic" does not include and the registration requirements herein do not apply to:
(6) Sole proprietorships, group practices, partnerships, or corporations that provide health care services by licensed health care practitioners pursuant to chapte . . . 460 [Chiropractic Medicine] . . . which are wholly owned by licensed health care practitioners . . ., so long as one of the owners who is a licensed health care practitioner is supervising the services performed therein and is legally responsible for the entity's compliance with all federal and state laws. . . .
§ 456.0375(1)(b)6, Fla. Stat. (2003).
The statute also provides that:
All charges or reimbursement claims made by or on behalf of a clinic that is required to be registered under this section, but that is not so registered, are unlawful charges and therefore are non-compensable and unenforceable.
§ 456.0375(4)(a), Fla. Stat. (2003).
Initially, the clinic was not required to register with the department because Dr. Michael K. Scholz, the owner/supervisor of the clinic, was already a licensed chiropractor; thus, the registration exception carved out by subsection (1)(b)6 applied. However, on January 9, 2003, Dr. Scholz died in an automobile accident.
Promptly after Dr. Scholz's death, the clinic engaged the services of Dr. Raymond Ruszkowski, a licensed chiropractor, to provide medical services to the clinics' existing patients. The clinic then admittedly operated without registering with the department for almost two months. On March 8, 2003, the clinic submitted an application for registration with the department, which was issued on March 11, 2003. However, during the time that it was not registered, from January 9, 2003 through March 11, 2003, the clinic provided medical service to twenty six patients who claimed entitlement to PIP benefits under automobile insurance policies issued by State Farm. State Farm denied the claims because the clinic was not registered with the department.
The clinic filed the underlying declaratory judgment action seeking a determination that, under section
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