Florida Medical Malpractice

Recent news reports cite “soaring malpractice insurance rates” in Florida (e. g. , High Rates Drive Doctors to Drop Insurance, Hide Assets, Associated Press, June 19, 2004). However, according to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR), these reports were prepared without its input and provided only opinions from a few doctors. Contrary to these reports, OIR reports that data suggests a stabilization of the Florida medical malpractice insurance market for a variety of reasons, including recent legislation.

The law prohibited any medical malpractice insurance rate changes from July 1, 2003 to January 1, 2004. The law also required insurers to file new rates within 60 days of the OIR’s publication of the presumed factor reflecting the anticipated savings of the reforms. The insurers would be expected to reduce their rate action by the presumed factor. This does not mean that rates would necessarily decrease, but that the anticipated rate increase would decrease by that factor.

The Florida law imposes caps on non-economic damages in all court cases involving injury or death due to medical negligence. Regardless of the number of defendants, the law caps non-economic damages at $ 500,000 per claimant in suits against health care practitioner defendants (e. g. , physicians and surgeons) and $ 750,000 per claimant in suits against non-practitioner defendants (e. g. , hospitals and other non-physician entities). The court can decide to exceed these caps in certain circumstances. In cases of catastrophic injury, as determined by the trier of fact, and when the court determines that manifest injustice would occur otherwise, an injured patient may recover up to $ 1 million and $ 1. 5 million, respectively.

Bad Faith Law Reforms (CS/SB-2D § 56)
Section 56 of CS/SB-2D creates a new statutory provision that governs bad faith in medical negligence actions. When an insurer is found to have acted in bad faith (i. e. , not acting in good faith to settle claims), it is liable for the full amount of a judgment against its insured, even if that amount exceeds the policy limits. Bad faith actions in Florida may be brought under statutory law (§ 624. 155(1)(b)(1), Fla. Stat. ) or common law.