TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - A Senate panel has cleared a bill aimed at cutting down the massive fraud plaguing the state's personal injury protection coverage.
    
The Senate committee on banking and insurance passed the PIP fraud-fighting bill (SB 1860) by a vote of 9-0 on Thursday.
    
Sen. Joe Negron's measure eliminates acupuncture and massage therapy as treatments that PIP will pay for after an accident. The Stuart Republican's measure also places tighter restrictions on pain clinics and requires more detailed police reports after a wreck.
    
But the bill leaves out the legal procedure known as "examinations under oath" that insurance companies wanted in. The examinations let insurance company lawyers question accident victims suspected of fraud.
    
Fraudsters have turned Florida into the top state for staged accidents. That results in increased premiums.

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