ASSEMBLY, No. 2554
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
INTRODUCED DECEMBER 5, 1996
By Assemblyman GARRETT
An Act concerning automobile insurance tort option criteria and amending P.L.1972, c.70.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 8 of P.L.1972, c.70 (C.39:6A-8) is amended to read as follows:
8. Tort exemption; limitation on the right to noneconomic loss.
One of the following two tort options shall be elected, in accordance with section 14.1 of P.L.1983, c.362 (C.39:6A-8.1), by any named insured required to maintain personal injury protection coverage pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1972, c.70 (C.39:6A-4):
a. Every owner, registrant, operator or occupant of an automobile to which section 4 of P.L.1972, c.70 (C.39:6A-4), personal injury protection coverage, regardless of fault, applies, and every person or organization legally responsible for his acts or omissions, is hereby exempted from tort liability for noneconomic loss to a person who is subject to this subsection and who is either a person who is required to maintain the coverage mandated by this act, or is a person who has a right to receive benefits under section 4 of P.L.1972, c.70 (C.39:6A-4), as a result of bodily injury, arising out of the ownership, operation, maintenance or use of such automobile in this State, unless that person has sustained a personal injury which results in death; dismemberment; significant permanent disfigurement due to prominent facial, scalp or neck scarring; [a] fracture of a weight-bearing bone; loss of a fetus where it has been determined by objective credible medical evidence that the pregnancy existed at the time of the accident; permanent significant partial or total loss of use of a body organ, member, function or system; permanent significant consequential limitation of use of a body organ or member; [significant] permanent disabling limitation of use of a body function or system which prevents the injured person from performing substantially all of the material acts which constitute a person's necessary and essential daily activities; or [a medically determined] an injury or impairment of a non-permanent nature which prevents the injured person from performing substantially all of the material acts which constitute that person's [usual and customary] necessary and essential daily activities for not less than 90 days during the 180 days immediately following the occurrence of the injury or impairment. Exemption from tort liability shall apply to any bodily injury sustained that is not specifically enumerated in this subsection.
A bodily injury shall be objectively proven to exist through the use of valid medical testing, except that no medical test shall be utilized for this purpose that is experimental or that is dependent for results upon subjective patient response. Within 180 days of the effective date of this 1997 amendatory act, the commissioner, in consultation with the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, shall promulgate by rule or regulation pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), a list of valid medical tests to be used in the diagnosis and treatment of bodily injury pursuant to this subsection. In making such determinations, the commissioner may consult with professional medical organizations whose members have expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of bodily injury; or
b. As an alternative to the basic tort option specified in subsection a. of this section, every owner, registrant, operator, or occupant of an automobile to which section 4 of P.L.1972, c.70 (C.39:6A-4) applies, and every person or organization legally responsible for his acts or omissions, shall be liable for noneconomic loss to a person who is subject to this subsection and who is either a person who is required to maintain the coverage mandated by P.L.1972, c.70 (C.39:6A-1 et seq.) or is a person who has a right to receive benefits under section 4 of that act (C.39:6A-4), as a result of bodily injury, arising out of the ownership, operation, maintenance or use of such automobile in this State.
The tort option provisions of subsection b. of this section shall also apply to the right to recover for noneconomic loss of any person eligible for benefits pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1972, c.70 (C.39:6A-4) but who is not required to maintain personal injury protection coverage and is not an immediate family member, as defined in section 14.1 of P.L.1983, c.362 (C.39:6A-8.1), under an automobile insurance policy.
The tort option provisions of subsection a. of this section shall also apply to any person subject to section 14 of P.L.1985, c.520 (C.39:6A-4.5).
The tort option provisions of subsections a. and b. of this section as provided in this [1988] 1997 amendatory [and supplementary] act shall apply to automobile insurance policies issued or renewed on or after [January 1, 1989 and as otherwise provided by law] the effective date of this 1997 amendatory act.
(cf: P.L.1990, c.8, s.9)
2. This act shall take effect on the 180th day after enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill limits the verbal threshold criteria of the no-fault insurance tort options by placing additional restrictions on seven of the nine current verbal threshold categories as follows:
► from "significant disfigurement" to: "significant permanent disfigurement due to prominent facial, scalp or neck scarring;"
► from "a fracture;" to: "fracture of a weight-bearing bone;"
► from "loss of a fetus" to: "loss of a fetus where it has been determined by objective credible medical evidence that the pregnancy existed at the time of the accident;"
► from "permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function or system" to: "permanent significant partial or total loss of use of a body organ, member, function or system;"
► from "permanent consequential limitation of use of a body organ or member" to: "permanent significant consequential limitation of use of a body organ or member;"
► from "significant limitation of use of a body function or system" to: "permanent disabling limitation of use of a body function or system which prevents the injured person from performing substantially all of the material acts which constitute a person's necessary and essential daily activities;"
► from "a medically determined injury or impairment of a non-permanent nature which prevents the injured person from performing substantially all of the material acts which constitute a person's usual and customary daily activities for not less than 90 days during the 180 days immediately following the occurrence of the injury or impairment" to: "an injury or impairment of a non-permanent nature which prevents the injured person from performing substantially all of the material acts which constitute that person's necessary and essential daily activities for not less than 90 days during the 180 days immediately following the occurrence of the injury or impairment."
By limiting the verbal threshold criteria, this bill provides clear guidance to the judiciary and will restrict lawsuits for injuries other than severe injuries. Consequently, there should be fewer lawsuits, and insureds selecting this coverage option could expect appropriately reduced insurance premiums.
Changes no-fault insurance verbal threshold criteria.