As he holds firm on a $250,000 cap, the governor finds his personality colliding with GOP legislators.
By STEVE BOUSQUET
Published July 18, 2003
TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Jeb Bush doesn't like to lose. Especially when he's convinced he's right.
To control doctors' insurance rates and ensure public access to health care, Bush insists caps on damage awards for pain and suffering are necessary. But the intensity of his advocacy and his criticism of opponents has fueled speculation about his motives.
Is Bush trying to repay doctors for their votes and contributions?
Is he trying to punish trial lawyers who have never supported him?
Is it all part of a broader, national political agenda?
After all, Bush and his brother the president, who is seeking re-election, have repeatedly attacked trial lawyers and "frivolous lawsuits" while calling for a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages. (In a striking parallel, the U.S. Senate has rejected the president's proposal while Gov. Bush continues to struggle with the state Senate).
Last year, the governor vowed to "whack the trial lawyers" for supporting his opponent, Democrat Bill McBride.
The marathon malpractice debate, now in its fifth month, has brought out all sides of the governor's personality.
His intensity, determination, impatience and thin skin have all been on display.
"My passion and my interest, and the reason why I'm a pain in the you-know-what for a lot of people around here is we've got to get this solved," Bush told reporters Wednesday "I'm not as patient as I need to be, but I'm getting better at it."
Traveling around the state, Bush talks of real people who he says have been victimized by soaring insurance rates.
Last Friday in Tampa he spoke movingly about a man from Palm Beach County who waited for seven hours for an eye surgeon after a fish hook lodged in his eye. He choked up as he spoke about how doctors are struggling to stay afloat.
"I've met the pediatric neurosurgeon in Tampa that's going to Boise. I've met the pregnant moms that are concerned about this," Bush told reporters Wednesday. "The fact is, we have a decreasing number of insurance companies writing policies for doctors that are making life decisions that will make it harder for us to guarantee access to care for Floridians. That is the issue. It's not an issue about politics."
Bush has gotten personal in other ways, too. He has said GOP lawmakers "caved" to trial lawyers who oppose strict damage caps.
Speaking to Republican donors in Orlando last month, with GOP senators in the crowd, he said trial lawyers were the biggest enemy of the Republican Party.
"His attitude is either my way or the highway, and I don't react well to that," said Sen. Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, on a day two weeks ago when emotions ran high. "For him, it's all about making sure he has a victory at any and all costs. That's not where the Senate is at."
Pruitt said Bush has been just as adamant on other issues such as tax cuts or his education agenda, but said his adamant stand on damage caps has "clouded his thinking on this issue."
Moreover, senators in Bush's party have said sworn testimony has punched holes in some assertions made by Bush and a coalition of health care groups favoring caps.
"Now, no one is saying there are frivolous lawsuits," said Senate President Jim King.
Complicating a solution is that malpractice is not easily solved by just splitting the difference, as lawmakers would prefer.
Bush demanded a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages, though he has expressed support for a $500,000 cap in cases that involve multiple claimants.
Bush is convinced the public is on his side and repeatedly cites a poll showing overwhelming support for a $250,000 cap. The poll was conducted by the Florida Medical Association, one of Bush's strongest allies in the fight.
A St. Petersburg Times poll conducted in May found 68 percent of voters favored a $250,000 cap.
The governor's intensity and willingness to risk the wrath of his allies should not be a surprise to anybody who followed the 2002 governor's race.
On Oct. 22, in the final televised debate of the campaign, Bush called for caps on noneconomic damages and told a story about how both obstetricians at the only hospital in rural DeSoto County would consider leaving unless insurance rates were reduced.
McBride, a Tampa lawyer, opposed caps on noneconomic damages, but said: "We've got a medical malpractice insurance crisis in Florida. ... We are losing doctors."
On the campaign trail, Bush said he believed in spending political capital, hot hoarding it, and that popularity is a fickle thing anyway.
"Popularity ebbs and flows," Bush said on the campaign trail last October. "The context in which you make decisions changes. If you focus on popularity all the time, I think it's a dangerous thing in a state like Florida."
- Staff writer Tim Grant contributed to this report.
