Legislature(2003 - 2004)
04/02/2004 09:10 AM Senate JUD
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SB 319 CLAIMS AGAINST HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS
CHAIR SEEKINS announced SB 319 to be up for consideration.
Chair Seekins admitted the bill is not in its final form.
KATHY DALE, a CPA from Anchorage, said she was representing
herself and family as victims of medical malpractice. She
opposes SB 319, particularly Section 3(d). She testified
regarding her husband and his routine rotator cuff surgery.
During surgery her husband suffered permanent brain damage due
to lack of oxygen to his brain. She stated that it was only due
to being able to file a lawsuit that they were able to discover
what had caused the brain damage. She said the bill protects
doctors and harms the citizens of Alaska. She asked that the
cap not be lowered and referred to the Medical Indemnity
Corporation of Alaska (MICA) and suggested that the $250,000 cap
adjusted for inflation would exceed $800,000 in today's economy.
She said the stock market crash, along with Enron, Tyco, and
World-com type fraud caused insurance companies to raise
premiums in order to increase funds. She compared this with the
state's problem with the PERS system and asked to consider
forming a fund such as MICA.
SENATOR OGAN stated he is familiar with MICA but asked for
clarification.
MS. DALE explained it as a self-insurance pool that the doctors
owned and the state loaned them funds to get started. She said
the pool was so successful that the dividend was too high and
would impact the doctor's taxes so they asked that the pool be
disbanded.
SENATOR OGAN asked if any other states have that type of system.
MS. DALE answered she is not aware of any others.
CHAIR SEEKINS stated that he is familiar with the history of
MICA, and referred to a conversation with Senator Taylor that
confirmed Ms. Dale's testimony regarding MICA.
SENATOR FRENCH asked Ms. Dale to talk about the financial impact
resulting from her husband's injury.
MS. DALE said her husband was a business owner. He is no longer
capable of doing even small jobs around the house. He is no
longer employable, has limited memory, and needs daily care. He
can drive a car.
CHAIR SEEKINS asked for clarification on Ms. Dale's testimony
and asked, "Was the difference in cap how you were able to
retain representation to bring the lawsuit?"
MS. DALE answered yes.
CHAIR SEEKINS asked, "What made the difference, the fee that
would retain the attorney?"
MS. DALE answered no and stated it was the out-of-pocket
expenses to send the records to experts in the field of
anesthesiology to review what happened.
CHAIR SEEKINS asked who sent the records out.
MS. DALE answered "our attorneys."
CHAIR SEEKINS asked for any further comment and clarified that
Ms. Dale was only representing herself and family and traveled
to Juneau at her own expense.
CHAIR SEEKINS invited anyone else from out of town to testify at
this time so that they would not be impacted if the committee
holds this over.
DONNA MCCREADY testified and identified herself as a plaintiff's
attorney who does some medical malpractice work. She stated she
is representing the Alaska Academy of Trawlers. She said there
are 2 different positions 1) those who want to lower the cap and
2) those who think there is not a medical malpractice crisis.
She placed herself in the second category. She asked how the
committee figures out [how to come out] its position on the
bill. She stated there is no data to support that Alaska has a
medical malpractice crisis, no data to support the statement
that doctors are leaving the state due to this. She suggested
that tons of data support the fact that malpractice carriers are
doing very well financially and that there are two main carriers
in this state NORCAL and MIEC (ph). She handed out material to
committee members showing the financial status of both carriers
and pointed out a report from the Legislative Research
Department that shows data to support her claim of an increase
of doctors actively practicing in Alaska. She cited Providence
Insurance information, which shows that 70% of doctors
practicing in Alaska are not recruiting doctors to work in the
state but the 30% who are do not have trouble doing so. She
stated that legislative research shows that doctors are
attracted to working in Alaska because we don't have managed
care here.
CHAIR SEEKINS said he has seen much of this information before
but also recognizes they have never received one of the
documents that she distributed, although the documents say they
were delivered on Dec 18. He said he cannot use this data
because it isn't detailed enough. "Someone threw me a pitch,
but not where I can hit it."
MS. MCCREADY referred to the tort reform of 1997 and suggested
the committee look to the Division of Insurance to explain the
numbers.
CHAIR SEEKINS said he appreciated her bringing in the data and
has seen much data regarding this issue but most of it is
excerpted. He asked that all parties submit to the committee
good data with the complete report, not just "page 9 page 13,
page 15." He says he sees a huge gap between the number of
licensed doctors and the number of practicing doctors.
MS. MCCREADY responded that in terms of the medical board, a
survey with physicians 55 & older were asked if they felt their
specialties were underrepresented and 66% answered no.
CHAIR SEEKINS said licensed may not mean practicing and he does
not want to argue that point. He said the committee has one
more witness who needs to speak today. He assured his
willingness to look at all the data.
SENATOR FRENCH thanked Ms. McCready for her testimony and
referred to a March 26 report regarding the old MICA Corporation
on Page 8, which says an average of 210 doctors per year have
been licensed to work in the state. He said new doctors don't
usually get a license and then become inactive.
CHAIR SEEKINS recognized that they can be licensed in other
states or numerous states even and don't ever practice here.
MS. MCCREADY pointed out that some doctors might practice in
more than one state.
CHAIR SEEKINS said he knows a couple of doctors who come up for
vacation and are specialists so they can make a little money
while they are here.
MR. RICHARD LOUIE said he worked 20 years at BP as a scientist
and auditor and stated his doctor did not inform him of risks.
He asked the committee to vote no on SB 319.
SENATOR OGAN asked Mr. Louie if he was the gentleman who had a
blood clot during an aircraft flight.
MR. LOUIE answered yes.
CHAIR SEEKINS asked for any further questions for Mr. Louie.
Hearing none, he advised that the committee wants as much
testimony as possible. He stated that the House is working on
it as well and he doesn't want to duplicate the effort.
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