For the Record

FMA Tort Reform Initiative

By Sandra Mortham, EVP/CEO of the Florida Medical Association

Supporting grassroots efforts is vital as well, so the FMA is sponsoring workshops and making clear communication with community groups a high priority.

Through work with FLAMPAC, the FMA can ensure that pro-tort reform legislators are elected; FLAMPAC works hand in hand with the FMA when reviewing the efforts of a legislator or a potential legislator. With nine full time registered lobbyists on staff at the FMA and numerous contracted lobbyists, the FMA continues to keep tort reform in the forefront of the legislature and the Governor's initiatives. In fact, Governor Jeb Bush called during the Board of Governors meeting in September to express his commitment to healthcare and tort reform. The Governor has established a committee to review and make recommendations for solutions to the medical liability crisis in Florida. This committee met in October and the FMA had the opportunity to express its concerns. Governor Bush consistently looks to the FMA for guidance on healthcare issues and depends on the FMA as a resource of information.

The 2003 Florida Legislative Session is just around the corner and the FMA has established tort reform as the number one priority. State legislation will be sought to include changes to reduce professional liability insurance rates; changes to the current trial system to make it more just; changes to eliminate frivolous lawsuits; and changes to ensure that the patient, not a trial attorney, receives the compensation awarded.

Federal and state legislation are not the only remedies planned. The FMA will also sponsor workshops around the state to provide professional advice from attorneys and financial planners. We will also look for regulatory changes, such as the recent Board of Medicine decision to rescind the rule that required physicians to obtain tail coverage. We will continue to seek changes to state rules that impact the professional liability crisis through the Board of Medicine and other entities such as hospitals and other health care associations.

We must stand united in voice and action when relaying the message of the medical liability crisis. All entities, including the Florida Medical Foundation and the FMA Alliance are involved in educating patients on this important issue. The FMA developed a campaign that consists of posters, brochures, and a pin for physicians' offices. Information is available on the FMA website at www.fmaonline.org or contact the Communications Department at 800-762-0233. The FMA has also joined in a coalition with the Florida Hospital Association to develop a media campaign to educate patients even further on this critical issue.

When speaking to patients about this crisis you must focus on how this crisis will affect them. Use personal stories, especially if they affect access to care. Patients don't care that your insurance has risen by any percentage, but they do care that they will no longer be able to see you or that you will no longer be able to perform services that they need. The following talking points have been developed to communicate a consistent message; they are also available on the FMA website.

ACCESS: The medical insurance crisis affects patients. Many physicians are being forced to stop doing certain procedures; others are retiring early or are leaving to practice in other states, where the premiums are lower. Patients are losing access to their own doctors.

At a time when Florida's population has grown faster than any other state, sixty-three hospitals have closed in the past fifteen years. Patient care is at risk. More people have less access.

Safe care of patients has always been a priority. Modern health care has become increasingly complex through available technologies, a variety of powerful drugs and teams of doctors and nurses working together.

These new technologies, drugs and caregivers allow for life-saving operations to be performed that were not available in the past. But we are still dealing with human beings who as patients don't react the same to identical treatment. The common initial reaction is to blame someone when there is a poor outcome. Blaming an individual does not improve the healthcare system.

FAIRNESS: Doctors' fees are determined by other entities such as Medicare and HMOs, and in fact are currently being reduced. Doctors cannot pass on increased cost like other businesses would. A supermarket can pass on increased costs by raising the price but doctors can't.

The Florida legal system does not work. Trial lawyers receive more money from every dollar than patients. Many of these so-called "patient groups" who say that there is no crisis are actually fronts for the trial lawyers. Currently patients receive 43 cents of every dollar and lawyers collect 57 cents. This is not fair.

Medical Liability insurance rates in Florida are by far the highest in the nation. An OB-GYN in Miami-Dade pays $200,000 per year, while the same specialist pays $60,000 in Los Angeles. This is because they have passed legal reforms in California.

SOLUTION: Enact state legislation that will reduce professional liability insurance rates and change the legal system to make it more fair. Seek Federal legislation that will put a cap on non-economic damages ("pain and suffering") while allowing patients to receive compensation for lost wages and medical expenses.

Citizens for Tort Reform is the entity that was established by the Board of Governors to seek a constitutional amendment to cap non-economic damages. The FMA will continue to support this entity and collect funds to bring this issue to the ballot in 2004. (More information is available on the FMA website.)

The FMA is working night and day to address your most important issues: how to keep practicing the profession to which you have dedicated your life. The FMA knows that without meaningful tort reform physicians cannot continue to practice, and patients will be denied medical care. If the physicians of Florida work together we will succeed.

November-December 2002 / Jacksonville Medicine
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