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Active Spine Centers9/28/2005
456.0375, the clinic was entitled to receive compensation for the chiropractic services it provided to the twenty six State Farm insureds between January 9, 2003 (the date of Dr. Scholz' death) and March 11, 2003 (the date the clinic's registration was issued). Both sides moved for summary judgment.
The clinic argued that "the sixty (60) day grace period prescribed by § 456.0375(1)(b)1, Florida Statutes, for the registration of existing clinics should be applied to the registration of an existing, exempt clinic whose practitioner/owner, such as Dr. Michael Kenneth Scholz, is killed." State Farm argued that any treatment allegedly rendered by the clinic during the relevant time period "was illegal because of [the clinic's] failure to satisfy the Licensing Statute" and that "the clear language of the Registration statute and the legislative intent behind the Statute provide no support for [the clinic's] position." After a hearing on the parties' motions, the trial court entered summary judgment in State Farm's favor, reasoning that the clinic violated the registration statute, and that as a result of the violation, the services the clinic provided during the period of the violation were not lawfully rendered. Because the services were not lawfully rendered, State Farm was not obligated to pay the clinic for the services under State Farm policies or Florida's PIP statute (section 627.736(5)(a), Fla. Stat. (2005), requires State Farm to pay only for "lawfully" rendered treatment).
The issue now before this Court is one of statutory construction. It is a pure question of law, requiring a de novo review. See State v. Joubert, 847 So. 2d 1023, 1025 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003). Whether it was error to enter summary judgment in State Farm's favor is also reviewed de novo. See Volusia Cty. v. Aberdeen at Ormond Beach, L.P., 760 So.2d 126, 130 (Fla. 2000).
The clinic contends that section 456.0375(1)(b)1 - the grace period provision - should be interpreted as giving the clinic sixty days from Dr. Scholz' death to register with the department. It argues that until Dr. Scholz died on January 9, 2003, the clinic was not a "clinic" within the meaning of the registration statute. Thus, the statute did not become effective with regard to the clinic until January 9, 2003. The clinic contends that any other result would bestow a windfall to State Farm.
The clear language of the statute provides a sixty-day window to register only when the requirement to register was first enacted. Prior to that time there was no registration requirement. The statute then required all non-exempt clinics to register "within sixty days after the effective date of this section or prior to the inception of operation." § 456.0375(2)(b)1, Fla. Stat. (emphasis supplied). When the clinic filed its application on March 11, 2003, it obviously did not register within 60 days after the effective date of the statute, which had been in effect since 2001. Thus, the clinic was required to file the registration form "prior to the inception of operation." Id. Even if Active Spine was not a "clinic" prior to Dr. Scholz's death, as a new clinic it was required to file the form before the start of its operation.
Here, the registration statute unambiguously stated that the clinic was required to register unless one of the exceptions applied. Because the clinic's owner was a licensed health care practitioner who was supervising the services performed at the clinic and who was legally responsible for the entity's compliance with all federal and state laws, the clinic fell within one of the exceptions. However, when the owner died in the car accident, the clinic was no longer in compliance with the registration statute.
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