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ALISA ULFERTSBut a few potential pitfalls remain for legislators during their third medical malpractice special session.
TALLAHASSEE - Lawmakers could finish up their third medical malpractice special session as early as today if all sides stick to the script.
The Senate is expected to approve the bill today with nothing more than technical changes. It would then pass the bill to the House, where, barring any eruptions, members are expected to pass it easily.
But some key Democrats are threatening to vote against the plan unless lawmakers roll back insurance rates. The bill freezes rates but delays adjustments for about six months.
Senate Democratic leader Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, said work already was under way on an amendment to roll back rates.
But Senate President Jim King is urging senators to stick to an agreement not to approve any significant amendments.
King, who needs every vote he can get, especially if a bloc of Democrats revolt, reminded GOP senators of the political costs of not voting for the bill.
"There will be someone who can come run against you and stick that somewhere that you don't want it stuck," King said during a Republican caucus.
The two Senate Democrats at Tuesday's Health, Aging and Long-Term Care Committee meeting, Dave Aronberg of West Palm Beach and Mandy Dawson of Fort Lauderdale, voted for the bill, but both said they may vote against it on the floor. And Klein said Tuesday that what little insurance reform is in the bill appears to be unconstitutional.
The bill freezes rates for six months. During that time, the state Department of Insurance will calculate how much rates should be lowered, based on assumptions about how doctors, lawyers and insurers will behave in response to the bill.
The bill then appears to force insurers to retroactively apply that new rate to their existing contracts, which would be unconstitutional and is the reason Republican senators resisted putting an immediate rate rollback in the bill, Klein said.
"This is designed to be unconstitutional," Klein said. Insurance companies could easily get that part of the bill thrown out without affecting the rest of it, Klein said. He plans to try to amend that on the Senate floor this morning.
The House Select Committee on Medical Liability Insurance also met Tuesday to discuss the bill.
Also Tuesday, Democrats from both chambers criticized Gov. Jeb Bush for ordering lawmakers to plug a hole in the state's prison budget when education needs more money. Democrats accused Bush of using federal economic stimulus money for the prison construction. A Bush spokeswoman said Bush wants lawmakers to use excess revenue from last year, not the federal stimulus funds.