Florida’s Legal Reform Progress Under Attack

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Rollback of 2023 Historic Lawsuit Abuse Reforms Filed
 
House Bill 947, filed by Representative Omar Blanco this week, threatens to undo Florida Chamber-led lawsuit abuse reforms passed in 2023, eliminating “Transparency in Damages” and allowing inflated billed medical costs to be presented in court. This change would reinstate an abusive legal practice that drives up the cost of litigation and ultimately the cost of living and doing business in Florida. The bill:
  • Eliminates a provision of Florida law that requires juries be informed of the actual costs of medical treatment, which has ensured verdicts are based on accurate and transparent information in personal injury and wrongful death cases;
  • Allows juries to consider costs that are deemed “reasonable and customary” in medical billings, or the “sticker price,” as opposed to the amounts that are accepted to provide medical care;
  • Empowers plaintiffs’ lawyers and doctors working in cahoots to once again artificially inflate medical damages, driving up the cost of litigation and therefore insurance premiums; and
  • Increases the cost of doing business and the $5,768 “tort tax” that every Floridian family pays due to Florida’s bottom-five legal climate.
This bill eliminates a key component of the historic Florida Chamber-backed lawsuit abuse reform effort – House Bill 837 – which helped restore balance to our civil justice system these last two years.
 
 
ACT NOW to Protect Florida's Legal Climate
The Florida Chamber will oppose this legislation and is uniting the business community to ensure we are advancing legislative policies that improve our legal climate – not make it worse.
If you are willing to help stop harmful legislation like this from becoming law or testify on the bill, contact Carolyn Johnson at cjohnson@flchamber.com.
 
Florida Chamber of Commerce  l  www.FloridaChamber.com   l  Unsubscribe
136 S. Bronough Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32301 l (850) 521-1200

Florida’s Legal Reform Progress Under Attack

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