Insured Opts to Purchase Medpay Benefits to Supplement the Pip Coverage

In State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Klinglesmith, 717 So. 2d 569, 570 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998), the Fifth District addressed this precise issue: The basis for State Farm's equating medpay benefits with PIP benefits, section 627.736(4)(f), actually demonstrates that medpay benefits are a collateral source. That statute provides that if PIP medical benefits have paid 80 percent of an insured's medical expenses, see section 627.736(1)(a), medpay benefits, "if available in a policy of motor vehicle insurance," must be applied to the remaining 20 percent even if PIP benefits have not been exhausted. Thus, if an insured opts to purchase medpay benefits to supplement the PIP coverage, the statute requires that collateral source to be applied first, rather than other medical insurance the insured may have.