Florida Senate - 2009 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 2252
Barcode 320982
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
04/01/2009 .
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The Committee on Banking and Insurance (Lawson) recommended the
following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete everything after the enacting clause
4 and insert:
5 Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 627.912, Florida
6 Statutes, is amended to read:
7 627.912 Professional liability claims and actions; reports
8 by insurers and health care providers; annual report by office.—
9 (1)(a) Each self-insurer authorized under s. 627.357 and
10 each commercial self-insurance fund authorized under s. 624.462,
11 authorized insurer, surplus lines insurer, risk retention group,
12 and joint underwriting association providing professional
13 liability insurance to a practitioner of medicine licensed under
14 chapter 458, to a practitioner of osteopathic medicine licensed
15 under chapter 459, to a podiatric physician licensed under
16 chapter 461, to a dentist licensed under chapter 466, to a
17 hospital licensed under chapter 395, to a crisis stabilization
18 unit licensed under part IV of chapter 394, to a health
19 maintenance organization certificated under part I of chapter
20 641, to clinics included in chapter 390, or to an ambulatory
21 surgical center as defined in s. 395.002, and each insurer
22 providing professional liability insurance to a member of The
23 Florida Bar shall report to the office as set forth in paragraph
24 (c) any written claim or action for damages for personal
25 injuries claimed to have been caused by error, omission, or
26 negligence in the performance of such insured’s professional
27 services or based on a claimed performance of professional
28 services without consent, if the claim resulted in:
29 1. A final judgment in any amount.
30 2. A settlement in any amount.
31 3. A final disposition of a medical malpractice claim
32 resulting in no indemnity payment on behalf of the insured.
33 (b) For purposes of this section, the term “claim” means
34 the receipt of a notice of intent to initiate litigation, a
35 summons and complaint, or a written demand from a person or his
36 or her legal representative stating an intention to pursue an
37 action for damages against a person described in paragraph (a).
38 (c) The duty to report specified in paragraph (a) arises
39 upon the occurrence of the first of:
40 1. The entry of any judgment against any provider
41 identified in paragraph (a) for which all appeals as a matter of
42 right have been exhausted or for which the time period for
43 filing such an appeal has expired;
44 2. The execution of an agreement between a provider
45 identified in paragraph (a) or an entity required to report
46 under that paragraph and a claimant to settle damages purported
47 to arise from the provision of professional services, which
48 agreement includes the payment of at least $1; however, if any
49 applicable law requires any such agreement to be approved by the
50 court, the duty arises when the agreement is approved;
51 3. The final payment of any indemnity money by any of the
52 entities required to report under paragraph (a) on behalf of any
53 provider identified in that paragraph for damages purported to
54 arise from professional services rendered; or
55 4. The final disposition of a claim for which no indemnity
56 payment was made on behalf of the insured but for which loss
57 adjustment expenses were paid in excess of $5,000. As used in
58 this subparagraph, the term “final disposition” means the
59 insurer has brought down all reserves and closed its file.
60 (d) After any calendar year in which no claim or action for
61 damages was closed, the entity shall file a no claim submission
62 report. Such report shall be filed with the office no later than
63 April 1 of each calendar year for the immediately preceding
64 calendar year. If a reporting entity submits such a report for a
65 particular calendar year and subsequently discovers that its
66 report was submitted in error, the reporting entity shall
67 promptly notify the office of the error and take steps as
68 directed by the office to make the needed corrections.
69 (e) If a claim is initially opened and then closed, and is
70 subsequently reopened, the reopened claim shall be treated as a
71 new claim and reported after the occurrence of the first of any
72 event listed in paragraph (c).
73 (f)(b) Each health care practitioner and health care
74 facility listed in paragraph (a) must report any claim or action
75 for damages as described in paragraph (a), if the claim is not
76 otherwise required to be reported by an insurer or other
77 insuring entity.
78 (g) Reports under this subsection shall be filed with the
79 office no later than 30 days following the occurrence of the
80 first of any event listed in paragraph (c) (a).
81 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.
82
83 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
84 And the title is amended as follows:
85 Delete everything before the enacting clause
86 and insert:
87 A bill to be entitled
88 An act relating to professional liability claims;
89 amending s. 627.912, F.S.; revising requirements for
90 reporting professional liability claims and actions;
91 providing definitions; specifying events for which
92 certain reports are required; requiring certain
93 absence of claims submission reports to be filed under
94 certain circumstances; providing requirements for
95 treatment of reopened claims; providing an effective
96 date.