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.