EMERGENCY ACTION NEEDED
SPECIAL SESSION – C ON HEALTHCARE
LIABILITY INSURNACE
July 14, 2003
Situation – The Florida House of Representatives initiated a major effort to pursue a compromise with the Senate this week during Special Session C, on the healthcare liability crisis. The House voted 81-22 in support of HB 15-C containing the House position reforming the healthcare liability system. Governor Bush announced Thursday, July 10 that he favors HB 15-C and would sign the legislation into law if it reached his desk. In the meantime, Senators continued to debate their legislation contained in SB 2-C that is scheduled to be voted on by the full Senate Friday, July 11.
The new House legislation contains a major revision to the cap on noneconomic damages provisions, Bad Faith provisions and protection of health care providers and workers serving in emergency room conditions. The House bill contains some of the following:
- Limits non-economic damage awards for individual victims to $250,000 for all doctors involved in a malpractice incident and $250,000 for the hospital and other facility where the malpractice occurs. This change provides the physician with a $250,000 cap, but allows individuals to receive more by suing multiple defendants up to a total of $500,000.
- In cases where there is more than one victim, such as parents who lose a child, the most that could be awarded is $500,000 from the physician (s) and $500,000 from a facility for a total of $1 million.
- Bad Faith: The House bill states that the medical malpractice insurance company cannot be held in bad faith if it offers to settle a claim at policy limits by the earlier of:
- One year after the claim is filed ( plus court-ordered extensions) or
- 60 days after pretrial discovery is completed.
- When a partly is responsible for unnecessarily delaying a case, the court can subject it to only the less favorable of the two alternative safe harbors (the fixed time period in the case of insurers or the discovery-based time period in the case of claimants).
- The bill also establishes 10 factors that must be considered when a medical malpractice insurer is sued for bad faith.
- The House bill also says that when the medical malpractice clamant pursues a bad faith case against the insurance company, damages will be capped at the lesser of the physician’s policy limits or the excess judgment (currently, the claimant would be able to receive the entire excess judgment as damages, without regard to the amount of coverage maintained by the physician). There is no restriction on the physician’s ability to sue his or her own insurance company for bad faith or to assign the case to a third party claimant.
- ER Protections: The House bill creates a two-tiered cap, the first tier is physicians. In a medical malpractice action against physicians providing emergency care, each claimant may recover up to $100,000 in noneconomic damages. However, all physician defendants are only liable for a total of $250,000 in the aggregate in situations with multiple claimants. The second tier is all non-physician defendants who are required to provide emergency care. Each claimant may recover up to $250,000 in noneconomic damages for all other defendants, such as hospitals, involved in the action. However, all other defendants are only liable for a maximum of $500,000 in situations where there are multiple claimants. The caps only affect noneconomic damages not economic damages. This is a major change from providing blanket sovereign immunity for all damages.
It is estimated that the Senate will not accept the new House position, however the Senate is expressing pleasure with the offer and the direction the House is headed. It appears that Special Session C will end Wednesday, July 16 without a final resolution, but House and Senate negotiators are working towards a product that may be acceptable during future Special Sessions.
Future Special Session Dates:
Special Session D: July 22 – July 28
Special Session E: August 5 – August 13
Special Session F: August 20 – August 28
Special Session G: September 3 – September 10
Special Session H: September 18- September 26
Message- Please continue to contact all members of the Florida Senate. Advise them of the impact the healthcare liability crisis is having on your practice and patients. Please try to enlist patients to contact Senators as well. Progress is being made, but more communications must be generated to show Senators the concerns physicians have for their patients and their ability to remain in practice in Florida.
Action Needed – At a minimum, please contact your Senator.In addition, please contact the following Senators serving on the Senate Select Committee:
CONTACT THE FOLLOWING FLORIDA SENATORS IMMEDIATELY:
Sen. Dennis Jones, R- Pinellas County, Chair
8940 Seminole Blvd.
Seminole, Fl 33772
(727) 549-6411
(850) 487-5065
jones.dennis.web@flsenate.gov
Sen. Durell Peaden, M.D., Vice Chair
598 North Ferdon Blvd.
Crestview, Florida 32536
(850) 689-0556
(850) 487-5000
peaden.durell.web@flsenate.gov
Sen. Tom Lee, R- Hillsborough
P.O. Box 2743
Brandon, Florida 33509
(813) 744-8683
(813) 744-8556 (fax)
(850) 487-5072
lee.tom.web@flsenate.gov
Sen. Les Miller, D- Tampa
2109 Palm Avenue, S-302
Tampa, Florida 33605
(813) 272-2831
(813) 272-2833 (fax)
(850) 487-5059
miller.Lesley.web@flsenate.gov
Sen. Nancy Argenziano, R- Crystal River
6216 West Corporate Oaks Drive
Crystal River, Florida 34429
(352) 860-5175
(850) 487-5017
argenziano.nancy.web@flsenate.gov
Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres
3900 Woodlake Blvd., Suite 301
Greenacres, Florida 33463
(561) 433-2627
(850) 487-5356
Aronberg.dave.web@slsenate.gov
Sen. Ron Klein, D- Palm Beach
3333 South Congress Avenue, Suite 305A
Delray Beach, Florida 33445
(561) 274-4777
(850) 487-5091
klein.ron.web@flsenate.gov
Sen. Burt Saunders, R- Naples
3301 East Tamiami Trail, Suite 304
Naples, Florida 34112
(239) 417-6220
(850) 487-5124
saunders.burt.web@flsenate.gov
Sen. Rod Smith, D- Gainesville
2727 NW 43rd Street, Suite 2A
Gainesville, Florida 32606
(352) 375-3555
(850) 487-5020
smith.rod.web@flsenate.gov