Bush aide calls for election opposition to GOP senators
By STEVE BOUSQUET
Published July 11, 2003
TALLAHASSEE - The political hardball between Republican Gov. Jeb Bush and the Senate over medical malpractice escalated Thursday with an e-mail from a top Bush aide that suggested recruiting opponents for some Republican senators.
The notion that a governor would consider running someone against an incumbent lawmaker from his own party underscores the nasty brawl within the GOP over medical malpractice.
The e-mail was written Tuesday by Alan Levine, Bush's deputy chief of staff and an adviser on medical issues. Writing to a former colleague at the Hospital Corporation of America, Levine endorsed recruiting opponents for two senators and putting pressure on a third.
Every senator named in the e-mail is a Republican from the Tampa Bay area: Tom Lee of Brandon, Mike Bennett of Bradenton, Dennis Jones of Seminole and Mike Fasano of New Port Richey.
"We need help with Tom Lee," Levine wrote to Daniel Miller, president of HCA's West Florida Division. "Mike Fencel and his board really need to work on him." Fencel is chief executive of Brandon Regional Medical Center, and Lee sits on the hospitals' board.
"With Bennett," Levine wrote, "I think your comment about finding another candidate may not be out of line . . . Same thing with Dennis Jones. Isn't he on Largo's board? He's been a real issue." Jones is a board member of Largo Medical Center, an HCA property, and is the floor manager for medical malpractice in the Senate.
Lee said the e-mail makes matters worse. "These are the kind of antics that are making it virtually impossible for us to remain focused on the policy differences that we have."
Ironically, Lee said, Bush has ripped senators for bending to pressure from trial lawyers. But Lee said the e-mail suggests that HCA, the nation's largest for-profit hospital chain, wields significant influence over policymaking in the governor's office.
"These kinds of ties should be severed," Lee said.
Before joining the Bush administration, Levine ran South Bay Hospital in Sun City Center, also an HCA property. Miller is Levine's former boss at HCA. Bush recently held a forum at South Bay Hospital where he criticized Bennett, Lee and other senators for stonewalling malpractice reform.
Bennett has been an outspoken opponent of Bush's earlier demands for a $250,000 cap on pain and suffering damages in malpractice lawsuits.
Jones wrote a letter last week criticizing Bush for being "obstinate" on malpractice and making it appear that senators had caved to pressure from trial lawyers.
"It shows the frustration the governor is having," Jones said of the e-mail. "His base of support has eroded."
Bush's spokeswoman, Jill Bratina, said Levine was answering a friend's suggestion in the e-mail, and she said HCA executives have "every right" to comment on the actions of their elected officials.
Only Fasano, who supports Bush's stand on malpractice, escaped Levine's wrath. The Bush aide wrote: "Fasano needs positive reinforcement . . . he's on board, but squishy."
The House on Thursday passed and sent to the Senate a malpractice bill raising the cap on damages for pain and suffering to $1-million in cases involving multiple claims. But the Senate still opposes that limit, and senators plan to put witnesses under oath.
As doctors in white lab coats watched from the visitors' gallery, the House vote was 81 to 22.
In his e-mail, Levine anticipated the vote and told his friend: "The mantra will change to "Support the House bill.' "
Some House Democrats criticized the bill's lack of a mandatory reduction in malpractice insurance rates. But supporters argued the private insurance market would respond positively.
- Times staff writer Alisa Ulferts and researcher Deirdre Morrow contributed to this report.
