Bill Text: FL S0646 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Quality of Long-Term Care Facility Improvement Trust Fund

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2022-03-14 - Died in Judiciary [S0646 Detail]

Download: Florida-2022-S0646-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2022                                     SB 646
       
       
        
       By Senator Hooper
       
       
       
       
       
       16-00897-22                                            2022646__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the Quality of Long-Term Care
    3         Facility Improvement Trust Fund; amending ss.
    4         400.0238, 400.0239, and 429.298, F.S.; deleting
    5         provisions requiring that a portion of the punitive
    6         damages awarded for claims brought under part II of
    7         ch. 400, F.S., relating to nursing homes, and part I
    8         of ch. 429, F.S., relating to assisted living
    9         facilities, be deposited into the Quality of Long-Term
   10         Care Facility Improvement Trust Fund; providing an
   11         effective date.
   12          
   13  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   14  
   15         Section 1. Subsection (4) of section 400.0238, Florida
   16  Statutes, is amended to read:
   17         400.0238 Punitive damages; limitation.—
   18         (4) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the
   19  amount of punitive damages awarded pursuant to this section
   20  shall be equally divided between the claimant and the Quality of
   21  Long-Term Care Facility Improvement Trust Fund, in accordance
   22  with the following provisions:
   23         (a) The clerk of the court shall transmit a copy of the
   24  jury verdict to the Chief Financial Officer by certified mail.
   25  In the final judgment, the court shall order the percentages of
   26  the award, payable as provided herein.
   27         (b) A settlement agreement entered into between the
   28  original parties to the action after a verdict has been returned
   29  must provide a proportionate share payable to the Quality of
   30  Long-Term Care Facility Improvement Trust Fund specified herein.
   31  For purposes of this paragraph, a proportionate share is a 50
   32  percent share of that percentage of the settlement amount which
   33  the punitive damages portion of the verdict bore to the total of
   34  the compensatory and punitive damages in the verdict.
   35         (c) The Department of Financial Services shall collect or
   36  cause to be collected all payments due the state under this
   37  section. Such payments are made to the Chief Financial Officer
   38  and deposited in the appropriate fund specified in this
   39  subsection.
   40         (d) If the full amount of punitive damages awarded cannot
   41  be collected, the claimant and the other recipient designated
   42  pursuant to this subsection are each entitled to a proportionate
   43  share of the punitive damages collected.
   44         Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 400.0239, Florida
   45  Statutes, is amended to read:
   46         400.0239 Quality of Long-Term Care Facility Improvement
   47  Trust Fund.—
   48         (1) There is created within the Agency for Health Care
   49  Administration a Quality of Long-Term Care Facility Improvement
   50  Trust Fund to support activities and programs directly related
   51  to improvement of the care of nursing home and assisted living
   52  facility residents. The trust fund shall be funded through
   53  proceeds generated pursuant to ss. 400.0238 and 429.298, through
   54  funds specifically appropriated by the Legislature, through
   55  gifts, endowments, and other charitable contributions allowed
   56  under federal and state law, and through federal nursing home
   57  civil monetary penalties collected by the Centers for Medicare
   58  and Medicaid Services and returned to the state. These funds
   59  must be utilized in accordance with federal requirements.
   60         Section 3. Subsection (4) of section 429.298, Florida
   61  Statutes, is amended to read:
   62         429.298 Punitive damages; limitation.—
   63         (4) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the
   64  amount of punitive damages awarded pursuant to this section
   65  shall be equally divided between the claimant and the Quality of
   66  Long-Term Care Facility Improvement Trust Fund, in accordance
   67  with the following provisions:
   68         (a) The clerk of the court shall transmit a copy of the
   69  jury verdict to the Chief Financial Officer by certified mail.
   70  In the final judgment, the court shall order the percentages of
   71  the award, payable as provided herein.
   72         (b) A settlement agreement entered into between the
   73  original parties to the action after a verdict has been returned
   74  must provide a proportionate share payable to the Quality of
   75  Long-Term Care Facility Improvement Trust Fund specified herein.
   76  For purposes of this paragraph, a proportionate share is a 50
   77  percent share of that percentage of the settlement amount which
   78  the punitive damages portion of the verdict bore to the total of
   79  the compensatory and punitive damages in the verdict.
   80         (c) The Department of Financial Services shall collect or
   81  cause to be collected all payments due the state under this
   82  section. Such payments are made to the Chief Financial Officer
   83  and deposited in the appropriate fund specified in this
   84  subsection.
   85         (d) If the full amount of punitive damages awarded cannot
   86  be collected, the claimant and the other recipient designated
   87  pursuant to this subsection are each entitled to a proportionate
   88  share of the punitive damages collected.
   89         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.