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By FCEP Lobbyist Toni Large
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FCEP Lobbyist
Toni Large |
The 2006 Session was marked with one theme, “nothing is
certain.” The best illustration of this was the internal
conflict in the Florida Senate. Shortly after the start of
Session, Senator Alex Villalobos was unseated as the next
Senate President by a coup led by Senator Jeff Atwater and
Senator J.D. Alexander. This triggered a series of events
that pitted loyal Villalobos supporters against the more
conservative Republican caucus supporting Senator Atwater as
the Senate President, following Senator Ken Pruitt’s term.
The infighting resulted in the failure of key initiatives
for Governor Jeb Bush during his final year in office,
including a failure of vouchers and changes to the class
size amendment. Senator Villalobos was also asked to step
down as Senate Majority Leader because of these key votes.
In painting this picture of how politics played out in the
Florida Senate, everything else seemed to follow the same
course - nothing was certain. Though vouchers and the class
size issue failed, abolishment of the doctrine of joint and
several was eliminated, surprising many by its successful
passage early in the session. FCEP had joined forces with
other interest groups through the Florida Justice Reform
Institute to lobby the legislature as a united voice for
needed change in this tort arena. The House of Medicine had
similar results this session. Again, nothing was certain.
Legislation was defeated that would have allowed naturopaths
to be licensed; pharmacists to administer flu shots; and
ARNPs to prescribe controlled substances.
On the other hand, one key initiative that would require
expert witness certificates for out of state doctors
testifying in malpractices cases in Florida failed on a tie
vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee. FCEP’s top three
issues were accomplished, despite the atmosphere of
uncertainty. In addition to the passage of joint and
several, the Florida legislature extended the sunset
date by two years for personal injury protection, or PIP
coverage (the sunset date is extended until Jan. 1, 2009).
The bill passed without a medical fee schedule opposed by
FCEP. The bill was heavily lobbied by the insurance industry
that supported sweeping reform and/or abolishment of the
insurance coverage for injured drivers. The debate offered
FCEP the opportunity to continue to educate legislators of
the lifesaving care emergency physicians provide across
Florida, especially during the critical minutes following a
serious auto accident. Many legislators voiced support in
protecting the safety net of emergency care and also
distinguished emergency care as a “fraud-free” component of
the PIP benefit. The bill now heads to the Governor for his
consideration.
The Emergency Medicine Learning and Resource Center
also received an appropriation of $500,000 to fund education
and training for emergency care providers throughout
Florida. This was a huge victory in a year when most
available dollars were allotted to Citizens Property
Insurance to begin to eliminate their huge deficit prior to
the start of the 2006 Hurricane season. But, the bad news is
that this appropriation received a line item veto from
Governor Bush. The issue of board certification, though supported by
numerous legislators, did not receive successful passage
during the Session. FCEP had forwarded an amendment that
would have required the Florida Board of Medicine to only
recognize certifying agencies which require
specialty-specific residency training from this point
forward.
Though the 2006 Session has ended, the hard work of each of
our members has just begun as we move into the November
election cycle, and the campaign work that occurs over the
summer. We will continue to keep you informed as the
governor reviews the bills passed by the legislature and
decides whether to sign them into law or use his veto power.
We’ll also keep membership informed of key campaigns across
the state with pro-medicine candidates.
Toni Large is the Director of Governmental Affairs at the
Law Firm of Roetzel & Andress. Toni and Wilbur Brewton were
retained prior to the 2005 Session to represent FCEP before
the Florida Legislature. Prior to joining the firm, Toni was
the Legislative Affairs Director at the Agency for Health
Care Administration from 1999-2004, and served as a Senior
Legislative Assistant to the Florida Legislature both in the
Florida Senate and
the Florida House of Representatives from 1995-99. |
Joint & Several Liability,