Kentucky PIP Reform 2026
HB 627 Caps Accident Medical Bills And Raises Your Benefits.
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HB 627 Is Now Kentucky Law
House Bill 627 was filed in the Kentucky House on February 11, 2026, and moved through the session with wide margins. The official bill record shows the House passed it 85-9 on February 24, the Senate passed it 24-8 with a committee substitute on March 27, and the House concurred in the Senate changes 75-14 on March 31. Both chambers routed the bill through their Banking and Insurance committees, and each adopted a committee substitute along the way, so the version that became law is the Senate’s rewrite rather than the bill as first filed. The enrolled bill reached Governor Beshear’s desk on April 1, 2026.
The Governor neither signed nor vetoed it. The bill was filed with the Secretary of State without his signature on April 13 and became law on April 14, 2026, recorded as Acts Chapter 149. Earlier coverage that described HB 627 as “waiting on the Governor” is out of date. The reform is on the books.
HB 627 carries no emergency clause, so its effective date follows Section 55 of the Kentucky Constitution: new acts take effect 90 days after the session adjourns, which puts the 2026 changes on track for mid-July 2026. The timing question that actually matters for your wallet sits in Section 7 of the act itself. The billing and benefit changes apply to basic and added reparation benefits issued or renewed on or after the effective date. Your policy’s renewal date, not your accident date, decides which set of rules governs your claim. A policy written in March 2026 that renews in September crosses over to the new rules at that September renewal; until then, the old standards ride along with the old policy term.
Before And After HB 627
Every row below comes straight from the enrolled text of Acts Chapter 149. The sections that follow walk through each change in plain language.
| Before HB 627 | After HB 627 |
|---|---|
| Medical Billing StandardInsurers treated whatever the provider billed as the charge to pay | Medical Billing StandardCapped at the workers’ comp fee schedule rate under KRS 342.035 |
| Weekly Wage LossUp to $200 per week | Weekly Wage LossUp to $500 per week |
| Funeral BenefitUp to $1,000 | Funeral BenefitUp to $5,000 |
| Collecting The BalanceNo statutory ban on pursuing patients for amounts above what PIP paid | Collecting The BalanceProhibited above the fee schedule cap, including credit reporting harm |
| Provider Billing DeadlineNo fixed statutory deadline to submit PIP charges | Provider Billing Deadline180 days from the date of service, with a narrow exception |
| Fraud EnforcementCommonwealth’s attorneys and county attorneys prosecuted insurance fraud | Fraud EnforcementAttorney General gains concurrent jurisdiction plus a public annual fraud report |
Medical Billing Moves To A Fee Schedule
Kentucky is a choice no-fault state. Under the Motor Vehicle Reparations Act, your own auto policy’s PIP coverage, called basic reparation benefits in the statute, pays your medical bills and lost wages after an accident regardless of who caused it, up to $10,000 per person per accident under KRS 304.39-020. Our guide to how PIP benefits work in Kentucky covers the coverage itself. This page covers what HB 627 just changed about it.
For decades, the weak point of that system was pricing. The old statute gave insurers a presumption that any medical bill submitted on a PIP claim was a legitimate charge, so the listed price was, in practice, the price. A $10,000 benefit pool drains fast when nothing in the statute caps what each visit, scan, or procedure can pull out of it. Every dollar of inflated billing comes out of coverage that was supposed to carry an injured person through treatment and missed paychecks.
Lawmakers did not build a new rate book from scratch. They borrowed one Kentucky already runs. KRS 342.035 directs the state to maintain, review, and update a medical fee schedule for workers’ compensation claims, so the rates are an existing, regularly revised standard rather than a number invented for this bill.
HB 627 replaces that open-ended standard. Under the amended KRS 304.39-020, a medical expense paid by a PIP insurer cannot exceed the maximum fee listed for that expense on the schedule of fees established under KRS 342.035, the same fee schedule Kentucky maintains for workers’ compensation medical claims. The Kentucky Department of Workers’ Claims publishes those schedules. The rate in effect when the expense is incurred controls, and the presumption now protects expenses submitted in line with the schedule rather than any number a billing office prints.
The payment clock did not change. Under KRS 304.39-210, PIP benefits are overdue if not paid within 30 days after the insurer receives proof of the fact and amount of loss, overdue payments draw 12 percent interest, and the rate climbs to 18 percent where the delay had no defensible basis. What is new is a deadline on the other side: providers must now submit their charges within 180 days of the date of service, with an exception for charges submitted under KRS 304.39-241, where the insured directs how benefits are paid.
Only The Rates Carry Over
HB 627 borrows the workers’ comp fee schedule numbers and nothing else. The act states that other requirements, terms, or conditions tied to that schedule do not apply to PIP claims, and it sets a floor: reimbursement cannot drop below the schedule maximums in effect on the act’s effective date, even if the schedule is later revised downward. Providers got pricing certainty in both directions.
★★★★★
“They took care of the medical bills and also had more than enough for a new car and pain and suffering.”
– Paula B.Balance Billing Is Now Prohibited
Balance billing is what happens when a provider charges more than an insurer pays and sends the gap to the patient. In the PIP context, that gap could follow an injured person for years: a bill they never agreed to, priced above what their coverage paid, sitting in collections while they recover.
HB 627 closes that door for PIP-covered charges. The amended KRS 304.39-210 now provides that a provider shall not knowingly collect, attempt to collect, or coerce payment of any charge for a PIP-covered medical expense that exceeds the fee schedule maximum. It goes one step further on the consequences: a provider also cannot cause the patient’s credit to be impaired because the patient declined to pay a balance above that cap.
In practice, the fee schedule rate is now payment in full for a PIP-covered charge. The difference between a provider’s sticker price and the schedule rate is the provider’s problem, not yours. Billing disputes still surface after settlements too, where health insurers and PIP carriers sort out who repays whom; our guide to car accident subrogation explains how that side of the ledger works.
If a provider pursues you for a PIP-covered balance after your policy has renewed under the new rules, that demand runs against the plain text of the statute. Keep the bill, keep the explanation-of-benefits statement that shows what PIP paid, and get a free case review before paying anything above the schedule rate. Paper beats memory in a billing dispute, and the statute now puts the paper on your side.
Bigger Wage Loss And Funeral Benefits
PIP pays more than medical bills. It also replaces income while an injury keeps you off work. Before HB 627, KRS 304.39-130 capped those weekly payments at $200, a figure that had sat untouched while wages climbed for decades. The new law raises the weekly cap to $500 for work loss, replacement services loss, and survivor loss combined, prorated for partial weeks. For workers with seasonal or irregular earnings, the statute still requires the weekly limit to be adjusted on an annual basis.
The funeral benefit moved even further. The definition of medical expense in KRS 304.39-020 now allows up to $5,000 per person for charges related to funeral, cremation, and burial, five times the old $1,000 figure. For context, the National Funeral Directors Association reports the national median cost of a funeral with viewing and burial was $8,300 in 2023. The new benefit still does not cover a median funeral, but it carries a family much further than the old one did.
One ceiling did not move: all of these payments still draw from the same $10,000 basic reparation pool per person per accident. Drivers who want more room can still buy added reparation benefits, the optional coverage layer defined in KRS 304.39-020 that stacks on top of basic PIP, and the option to purchase those added benefits under KRS 304.39-140 is unchanged by the reform.
Attorney General Fraud Enforcement
HB 627 adds enforcement muscle behind the new billing rules. A new section of KRS Chapter 15, created by Section 4 of Acts Chapter 149, gives the Kentucky Attorney General concurrent jurisdiction with Commonwealth’s attorneys and county attorneys to investigate and prosecute fraudulent insurance acts under KRS 304.47-020. Those offenses grade from a Class A misdemeanor up through felony levels as the dollars involved climb, and prosecutors who learn of suspected fraud must report it to the insurance commissioner. Inflated PIP billing was the money engine the reform targeted, and the same act that capped the rates also added a statewide office with the power to prosecute gaming them.
The law pairs that with public accountability. The insurance commissioner must now publish an annual fraud report on the Department of Insurance website covering the number of fraud reports received, the cases and dollar amounts referred for prosecution, and how those prosecutions turned out. Over the next few years, that report will show whether tying PIP billing to a fee schedule actually shrinks the inflated-billing schemes the reform targeted.
Before Your Policy Renews
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Find your renewal date
Section 7 of Acts Chapter 149 applies the new rules to policies issued or renewed on or after the effective date. Check your declarations page or ask your insurer when your current term ends.
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Confirm PIP is on your policy
The higher wage loss benefit, the bigger funeral benefit, and the balance billing protection only reach policies that carry PIP. If you rejected coverage in writing under KRS 304.39-060, none of these upgrades apply to you.
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Keep every bill and statement
Once the new rules govern your policy, the fee schedule rate is the most a provider can collect for a PIP-covered charge. Your bills and explanation-of-benefits statements are the paper trail that shows whether anyone billed above it.
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Know which rules govern your claim
An injury under a policy that has not yet renewed follows the old standards, including the $200 weekly wage loss cap. Once the policy renews after the effective date, the new standards take over going forward.
What Stays The Same
HB 627 is a billing and benefits reform, not a rewrite of Kentucky’s no-fault system. Kentucky remains a choice no-fault state. Your own PIP coverage still pays first after an accident regardless of who caused it, and the basic reparation limit stays at $10,000 per person per accident under KRS 304.39-020. The written option to reject PIP under KRS 304.39-060 also survives, though rejecting coverage now means walking away from materially better benefits than it did before.
PIP also still covers only injury-related economic loss: medical expense, wage loss, replacement services, and survivor benefits. It has never paid for vehicle damage, and HB 627 does not change that. If the accident damaged more than your health, our guide to totaled cars in Kentucky covers the property side of the claim.
Your Choice Of Doctor Is Untouched
Nothing in Acts Chapter 149 limits which licensed providers may treat you after an accident, and the statute’s definition of medical expense still covers every healing arts profession licensed in Kentucky. The fee schedule controls what your insurer pays and what the provider may collect. It does not control where you get care.
Serious injuries still step outside the no-fault system entirely. When that happens, the claim runs against the at-fault driver’s liability coverage, and that is where the real money in a case usually sits. Our car accident team handles both tracks at once: the PIP side under the new rules, and the liability side against the other driver’s insurer, with $0 out-of-pocket forever and a fee that never increases, even if the case goes to litigation or trial.
FAQ’s
When does Kentucky HB 627 take effect?
HB 627 carries no emergency clause, so under Section 55 of the Kentucky Constitution it takes effect 90 days after the 2026 session adjourned, in mid-July 2026. Section 7 of the act applies the new billing and benefit rules to policies issued or renewed on or after that date.
Does HB 627 apply to an accident that already happened?
The controlling date is your policy’s issuance or renewal, not your accident date. Section 7 of Acts Chapter 149 applies the changes to basic and added reparation benefits issued or renewed on or after the effective date, so a claim under a policy that has not renewed follows the old rules.
Can a provider bill me for the balance above what PIP pays?
Not for PIP-covered charges above the fee schedule cap. KRS 304.39-210 now bars providers from knowingly collecting, or attempting to collect, any charge above the schedule maximum, and from impairing your credit over an unpaid balance above that cap.
Does HB 627 change how much PIP coverage I carry?
No. Basic reparation benefits remain capped at $10,000 per person per accident under KRS 304.39-020. HB 627 caps what providers may charge against that coverage and raises the wage loss and funeral figures inside it, so the same $10,000 stretches further than it used to.
Can I still see my own doctor under the new rules?
Yes. Nothing in Acts Chapter 149 restricts which licensed providers may treat you, and the definition of medical expense still covers all healing arts professions licensed in Kentucky. The amendments govern what the insurer reimburses and what the provider may collect, not where you get care.
Did the final law keep the 180-day billing deadline?
Yes. The enrolled version of HB 627 requires providers to submit a statement of charges within 180 days of the date the product, service, or accommodation is rendered. Charges submitted under KRS 304.39-241, where the insured directs payment, are exempt from that deadline.
Can I still reject PIP coverage in Kentucky?
Yes. The written rejection process under KRS 304.39-060 is unchanged. Rejecting PIP after HB 627 means giving up more than before: the $500 weekly wage loss benefit, the $5,000 funeral benefit, and the balance billing protection all depend on having PIP in force.
Who investigates PIP fraud under HB 627?
The Attorney General now holds concurrent jurisdiction with Commonwealth’s attorneys and county attorneys to investigate and prosecute insurance fraud offenses under KRS 304.47-020. The insurance commissioner must also publish an annual fraud report covering reports received, cases referred, and prosecution outcomes.
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