HOUSE AMENDMENT Bill No. HB 1713
1	CHAMBER ACTION
2	Senate House
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12	Representative Ambler offered the following:
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14	Amendment (with title amendment)
15	Remove line(s) 836-935, and insert:
16	liability insurers. The facility shall offer policies to cover
17	health care professionals who have retired from practice or
18	maintain a part-time practice as set forth herein. For health
19	care professionals who meet the following requirements, the
20	premiums for such policies shall be no more than 50 percent of
21	the cost of premiums for similar specialties for health care
22	professionals who do not meet the following requirements:
23	(a) The health care professional has held an active
24	license to practice in this state or another state or some
25	combination thereof for more than 15 years.
26	(b) The health care professional has either retired from
27	the practice of medicine or maintains a part-time practice of no
28	more than 1,000 patient contact hours per year.
29	(c) The health care professional has had no more than two
30	claims for medical malpractice resulting in an indemnity
31	exceeding $50,000 each within the previous 5-year period.
32	(d) The health care professional has not been convicted
33	of, or pled guilty or nolo contendere to, any criminal violation
34	specified in this chapter or the medical practice act of any
35	other state.
36	(e) The health care professional has not been subject
37	within the last 10 years of practice to license revocation or
38	suspension for any period of time; probation for a period of 3
39	years or longer; or a fine of $500 or more for a violation of
40	chapter 766 or the medical practice act of another jurisdiction.
41	The regulatory agency's acceptance of a physician's
42	relinquishment of a license, stipulation, consent order, or
43	other settlement, offered in response to or in anticipation of
44	the filing of administrative charges against the physician's
45	license, shall be construed as action against the physician's
46	license for the purposes of this paragraph.
47	(f) The health care professional has submitted a form
48	supplying necessary information as required by the department
49	and an affidavit affirming compliance with the provisions of
50	this subsection.
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52	The health care professional shall submit biennially to the
53	facility certification stating compliance with the provisions of
54	this subsection. The licensee shall, upon request, demonstrate
55	to the department information verifying compliance with this
56	subsection.
57	(4) ELIGIBILITY; TERMINATION.--
58	(a) Any health care professional is eligible for coverage
59	provided by the facility if the professional at all times
60	maintains either:
61	1. An escrow account consisting of cash or assets eligible
62	for deposit under s. 625.52 in an amount equal to the deductible
63	amount of the policy; or
64	2. An unexpired, irrevocable letter of credit, established
65	pursuant to chapter 675, in an amount not less than the
66	deductible amount of the policy. The letter of credit shall be
67	payable to the health care professional as beneficiary upon
68	presentment of a final judgment indicating liability and
69	awarding damages to be paid by the physician or upon presentment
70	of a settlement agreement signed by all parties to such
71	agreement when such final judgment or settlement is a result of
72	a claim arising out of the rendering of, or the failure to
73	render, medical care and services. Such letter of credit shall
74	be nonassignable and nontransferable. Such letter of credit
75	shall be issued by any bank or savings association organized and
76	existing under the laws of this state or any bank or savings
77	association organized under the laws of the United States that
78	has its principal place of business in this state or has a
79	branch office which is authorized under the laws of this state
80	or of the United States to receive deposits in this state.
81	(b) The eligibility of a health care professional for
82	coverage terminates upon:
83	1. The failure of the professional to comply with
84	paragraph (a);
85	2. The failure of the professional to timely pay premiums;
86	or
87	3. The commission of any act of fraud in connection with
88	the policy, as determined by the board of governors.
89	(c) The board of governors, in its discretion, may
90	reinstate the eligibility of a health care professional whose
91	eligibility has terminated pursuant to paragraph (b) upon
92	determining that the professional has come back into compliance
93	with paragraph (a) or has paid the overdue premiums. Eligibility
94	may be reinstated in the case of fraud only if the board
95	determines that its initial determination of fraud was in error.
96	(5) PREMIUMS.--
97	(a) The facility shall charge the actuarially indicated
98	premium for the coverage provided and shall retain the services
99	of consulting actuaries to prepare its rate filings. The
100	facility shall not provide dividends to policyholders, and, to
101	the extent that premiums are more than the amount required to
102	cover claims and expenses, such excess shall be retained by the
103	facility for payment of future claims. In the event of
104	dissolution of the facility, any amounts not required as a
105	reserve for outstanding claims shall be transferred to the
106	policyholders of record as of the last day of operation.
107	(b) To ensure that the facility has the funds to pay
108	claims:
109	1. From each judgment awarded and settlement agreed to
110	from which a claim will be paid in whole or in part by the
111	facility, the facility shall retain 1 percent of its portion of
112	the award or settlement for deposit into a separate account for
113	guaranteeing payment of claims.
114	2. From the funds of the Florida Birth-Related
115	Neurological Injury Compensation Association, the facility shall
116	receive the interest on the association’s investments for
117	deposit into a separate account for guaranteeing payment of
118	claims.
119	(6) REGULATION; APPLICABILITY OF OTHER STATUTES.--
120	(a) The facility shall operate pursuant to a plan of
121	operation approved by order of the Office of Insurance
122	Regulation of the Financial Services Commission. The board of
123	governors may at any time adopt amendments to the plan of
124	operation and submit the amendments to the Office of Insurance
125	Regulation for approval.
126	(b) The facility is subject to regulation by the Office of
127	Insurance Regulation of the Financial Services Commission in the
128	same manner as other insurers.
129	(c) The facility is not subject to part II of chapter 631,
130	relating to the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association.
131	(7) STARTUP PROVISIONS.--
132	(a) It is the intent of the Legislature that the facility
133	begin providing coverage no later than January 1, 2004.
134	(b) The Governor and the Chief Financial Officer shall
135	make their appointments to the board of governors of the
136	facility no later than July 1, 2003. Until the board is
137	appointed, the Secretary of Health may perform ministerial acts
138	on behalf of the facility as chair of the board of governors.
139	(c) Until the facility is able to hire permanent staff and
140	enter into contracts for professional services, the office of
141	the Secretary of Health shall provide support services to the
142	facility.
143	(d) In order to provide startup funds for the facility,
144	the board of governors may incur debt or enter into agreements
145	for lines of credit, provided that the sole source of funds for
146	repayment of any debt is future premium revenues of the
147	facility. The amount of such debt or lines of credit may not
148	exceed $10 million. In addition to the debt or lines of credit
149	provided for herein, the facility shall be authorized to borrow
150	up to $10 million from the Florida Birth-Related Neurological
151	Injury Compensation Association and repay the association in
152	equal annual installments over a period of 10 years.
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156	Remove line(s) 56, and insert:
157	premiums; providing for regulation;