Amendment
Bill No. 0675

Amendment No. 234579

CHAMBER ACTION
Senate		House
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1	Representative(s) Pickens offered the following:
2
3	Amendment (with title amendment)
4	Remove everything after the enacting clause and insert:
5
6	Section 1.  Subsection (8) is added to section 155.40,
7	Florida Statutes, to read:
8	155.40  Sale or lease of county, district, or municipal
9	hospital.--
10	(8)(a)  If a public hospital is sold by a public agency to
11	a private corporation or other private entity pursuant to this
12	section or pursuant to a special act of the Legislature and the
13	purchase agreement provides that:
14	1.  The private corporation or other private entity
15	purchaser acquires 100 percent ownership in the hospital
16	enterprise;
17	2.  The private corporation or other private entity
18	purchases the physical plant of the hospital facility and has
19	complete responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the
20	facility, regardless of ownership of the underlying real
21	property;
22	3.  The public agency seller retains no control over
23	decisionmaking or policymaking for the hospital;
24	4.  The private corporation or other private entity
25	purchaser receives no funding from the public agency seller
26	other than by contract for services rendered to patients for
27	whom the public agency seller has the responsibility to pay for
28	hospital or medical care;
29	5.  The public agency seller makes no substantial
30	investment in or loans to the private entity;
31	6.  The private corporation or other private entity
32	purchaser was not created by the public entity seller; and
33	7.  The private corporation or other private entity
34	purchaser operates primarily for its own financial interests and
35	not primarily for the interests of the public agency,
36
37	then such a sale shall be considered a complete sale of the
38	public agency's interest in the hospital.
39	(b)  A complete sale of a hospital as described in this
40	subsection shall not be construed as:
41	1.  A transfer of a governmental function from the county,
42	district, or municipality to the private corporation or other
43	private entity purchaser;
44	2.  Constituting a financial interest of the public agency
45	in the private corporation or other private entity purchaser;
46	3.  Making the private corporation or other private entity
47	purchaser an "agency" as that term is used in statutes;
48	4.  Making the private corporation or other private entity
49	purchaser an integral part of the public agency's decisionmaking
50	process; or
51	5.  Indicating that the private corporation or other
52	private entity purchaser is "acting on behalf of a public
53	agency" as that term is used in statute.
54	Section 2.  The Legislature finds that it is necessary to
55	clarify that a public agency may sell its interest in a public
56	hospital to a private corporation or other private entity and to
57	establish that such a sale results in the privatization of the
58	hospital enterprise. The Legislature finds that the sale of a
59	hospital by a public agency to a private corporation or other
60	private entity purchaser under this section is a complete sale
61	where: the public agency retains no ownership interest in the
62	hospital enterprise or the hospital facility, regardless of who
63	owns the underlying property; the private corporation or other
64	private entity has the complete responsibility for operation and
65	maintenance of the hospital facility; the private corporation or
66	other private entity receives no funds from the public agency
67	seller other than by contract for services provided to patients
68	for whom the public agency has responsibility to pay for medical
69	or hospital services; the public agency makes no substantial
70	investment or loan to the private corporation or other private
71	entity; the private corporation or other private entity is not
72	created by the public agency; and the private corporation or
73	other private entity operates primarily for its own financial
74	interests as opposed to those of the public agency. The
75	Legislature further finds that a complete sale of the hospital
76	under such circumstances eliminates any argument that the
77	private corporation or other private entity continues to perform
78	any governmental or public function, that the public agency
79	retains any financial interest in the private purchaser or the
80	hospital, that the private purchaser is an integral part in the
81	public agency's decisionmaking process, or that the private
82	entity is an "agency" or is "acting on behalf of a public
83	agency" as those terms are used in statute. The Legislature
84	further finds that the recognition of such sales as being
85	complete sales of the formerly public hospital to a private
86	corporation or other private entity is a public necessity so
87	that private entities that purchase public hospitals are allowed
88	to operate without unnecessary public interference. Some recent
89	court decisions, however, have found that a private corporation
90	or other private entity that purchases a public hospital is
91	still a public agency for some purposes and have failed to
92	recognize that the public agency does not retain any control
93	over the private entity or the formerly public hospital
94	following the complete sale of a public hospital to a private
95	corporation or other private entity. Therefore, the Legislature
96	finds that it is a necessity to confirm its intent that a
97	private corporation or other private entity that purchases a
98	formerly public hospital through a complete sale is not a public
99	agency for any purpose. To find otherwise would place such a
100	private corporation or other private entity that purchases a
101	public hospital at a competitive disadvantage compared to other
102	private entities that own private hospitals that were not
103	formerly public hospitals and would serve as a disincentive for
104	the purchase of a public hospital. Public agencies choose to
105	sell their public hospitals to private corporations or other
106	private entities when the public entity is no longer able to
107	operate the hospital in a fiscally responsible manner and where
108	taxpayers would otherwise be required to finance the operations
109	of the hospital beyond indigent care. If a private corporation
110	or other private entity that purchases a public hospital is
111	treated as a public agency, then public agencies may find it
112	difficult, if not impossible, to find a private corporation or
113	other private entity that is willing to purchase a public
114	hospital. This could force the public agency to close the
115	hospital, which would result in a reduction in health care
116	services to the public, or continue operating the hospital using
117	public tax dollars to subsidize recurring losses. Neither of
118	these options is in the best interest of the public. Thus, the
119	Legislature finds that if a private corporation or other private
120	entity purchases a public hospital and the purchase agreement
121	for that hospital meets the requirements established under this
122	act, regardless of whether the corporation had previously leased
123	that public hospital, that private corporation or other private
124	entity is not a public agency for any purpose and does not act
125	on behalf of the public agency.
126	Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law
127	and shall apply to each private corporation or other private
128	entity that has purchased a public hospital, regardless of
129	whether such purchase occurred prior to the effective date of
130	this act.
131
132
133	======= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T =======
134	Remove the entire title and insert:
135
136	A bill to be entitled
137	An act relating to the sale or lease of a county,
138	district, or municipal hospital; amending s. 155.40, F.S.;
139	providing conditions under which the sale of a public
140	hospital by a public agency to a private corporation or
141	other private entity is considered a complete sale of the
142	public agency's interest in the hospital; providing
143	construction; providing legislative findings; providing
144	applicability; providing an effective date.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.