BUSINESS
COMMUNITY OPPOSES
CONSTITUTIONAL
AMENDMENTS
TALLAHASEE — Today the business community announced its opposition to
the constitutional amendment currently being proposed by the Florida
Medical Association (FMA) that would cap attorney fees.
AIF believes that these types of amendments shouldn’t be attached to
the state’s Constitution. Barney T. Bishop, III, chief lobbyist for
AIF, stated, “The business community is steadfast in our collective
belief that the Florida Constitution is a sacred document that should
only be amended occasionally and wisely, which means when the state’s
governance structure or limitations on state powers have to be dealt
with. Everything else is superfluous.”
Over the past few months, the business community and the insurance industry
have attempted to convince the FMA leadership that its proposed constitutional
amendment capping attorneys’ fees is unsupportable and even counterproductive.
It won’t lower insurance rates and amendments being proposed in retaliation
by the trial lawyers could damage the health care delivery system on
which all Florida citizens rely.
A letter from AIF is being sent to more
than 40,000 doctors across Florida asking them to not support the FMA
amendment. It explains that the FMA amendment is premature since it
doesn’t allow the recent medical malpractice legislation the time necessary
to have a meaningful impact.
Meanwhile, the trial lawyers are pursuing passage of three amendments
in retaliation against the FMA that would:
-
take
away the license of any doctor who is found to have committed three
or more acts of medical malpractice
-
make
public all adverse medical incident reports and peer review records
for all facilities and providers, including the records of incidents
that resulted in death or injury
-
force
all doctors to charge all patients the lowest rate they charge any
of their patients
The letter goes on to say that the three amendments by the trial lawyers
against the FMA and the amendment by the FMA against the trial lawyers
is a “pox on both of your houses.”
“The integrity of Florida’s Constitution is under attack,” said Guy
Marvin, president of the Florida Insurance Council. “We need to protect
our Constitution from groups seeking to sidestep the ‘checks and balances’
found in the legislative process.”
The issue of constitutional amendments and how they are placed on the
ballot and the effect they can have on Florida’s economy will certainly
be a focal point during the upcoming session.
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