Lawmakers are considering a proposal to make it more difficult to sue negligent nursing homes and limit the amount of money awarded in a lawsuit.
The proposal (HB 661, SB 1396) would cap non-economic damages at $250,000 in wrongful death cases involving nursing homes for the first time. It would also make it more difficult to obtain punitive damages, and prohibit naming an out-of-town owner or investor of a nursing home in a lawsuit.
The measure passed the House Civil Justice Subcommittee on Friday in a party-line vote after an hour of testimony and debate. The bill drew the ire of lobby groups like the AARP and the Florida Justice Association, which represents trial lawyers.
There is nothing in (the bill) that helps nursing home residents, nothing that makes sure we can hold bad nursing homes accountable, FJA Executive Director Debra Henley said after the hearing.
The bill is being pushed by the Florida Health Care Association, which represents nursing home owners. It also has support of powerful business groups such as the Florida Chamber of Commerce, common foes of trial lawyers.
The nursing home industry argues that more dollars should be spent on providing health care in their facilities than fending off lawsuits.
Suing nursing homes isnt going to do anything to improve the quality of health care, said Kari Aasheim, an attorney who said the nursing home lobby helped write the bill.
Our primary goal in drafting this legislation is to support investors so that quality care would improve, Aasheim said. We have to encourage investors in health care rather than encouraging opportunistic lawsuits.
Proponents say the bill closes loopholes in an existing law that allows trial lawyers to target the corporate owners of nursing homes, or investors.
If someone has a slip and fall at Wal-Mart they dont sue the owner of Wal-Mart, said Doug Mannheimer, an attorney working with the Florida Health Care Association.
Under the measure, a plaintiff would only be able to sue whoever holds the license to operate the nursing home in the state of Florida rather than an out-of-state corporate CEO or investor.
A plaintiff can bring a lawsuit on to a blind trust from Cincinnati or an investor from New York that has nothing to do with the operation of the nursing home but owns an interest, said bill sponsor Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach.
But opponents say the bill makes it more difficult to hold a nursing home accountable for negligence if there is no threat of a hefty lawsuit.
Henley said the $250,000 cap on non-economic damages is an extreme limit, even lower than the states medical malpractice limits. Under current law there is no cap on wrongful death cases at nursing homes.
By eliminating the ability to sue an out-of-state corporate owner, it opens up the possibility of companies hiding assets in other states to avoid wrongful death lawsuits, Henley explained.
Nursing home operators are often targeted in these types of cases not only because of their oversight of the company, but because they have the deep pockets capable of paying large settlements.
The people who have the money are shielded from lawsuits, Henley said.
Gaetz said the Agency for Health Care Administration will be able to hold the nursing homes accountable and can revoke a license if claims against them are going unpaid.
Madison resident Randolph Gray, who works at the Department of Financial Services, told the House committee on Friday that his father and mother died in nursing homes.
His father died choking on his own dinner, Gray said, after he was mistakenly left alone by nursing home staff.
This bill assumes there are no deserving plaintiffs, Gray said. Where is the accountability?
Capitol gadfly Brian Pitts of Justice 2 Justice, a watchdog group, also weighed in.
Since when do you help private entities win a lawsuit? he said, siding with the trial lawyers.
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