Docs, hospitals, trial attorneys targeted in Florida Chamber's seven step health plan

The Florida Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday issued a seven-step plan that it says would provide coverage to the uninsured as well as eliminate a billion-dollar-plus burden on Floridians.

Dubbed Smarter Health Care Coverage in Florida, the Chamber’s plan calls for using federal dollars available under the Affordable Care Act so long as the impact on Medicaid budget does not exceed 32 percent. The expansion should rely on private insurers and continue to use managed care The Chamber also wants the federal government to allow Florida “maximum flexibility” to craft a plan to treat the uninsured and eliminate a $1.4 billion cost shift that Floridians and businesses already pay associated with uncompensated care for the uninsured.

Florida Chamber President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Wilson said in a release his association is “focused on making Florida more competitive and bending the cost curve for Florida’s families and job creators.”

In addition to addressing Medicaid, the Chamber plan proposes tackling three “major cost drivers” in the health-care system: workers compensation, lawsuit abuse and fraud. The proposal calls on implementing a new workers compensation fee schedule on Florida hospitals for inpatient, outpatient and ambulatory care.

And to ensure the health-care system has the capacity to treat an increased number of Floridians, the Chamber supports allowing nurse practitioners and physician assistants to “practice to their fullest potential.”

Florida Medical Association Executive Vice President Tim Stapleton said the FMA believes the best delivery model “is a physician-led, collaborative, team approach to care with each member of the health- care team providing care based on his or her level of education and training,”

“Without a physician leading the team, providing direction and oversight, medical care will become even more fragmented, resulting in higher unnecessary utilization of diagnostic imaging, inappropriate utilization of resources, higher costs and lower quality care,” Stapleton said in an email.

The FMA released its legislative wish list last week.

The Chamber wants the Legislature to address last year’s 5-2 Supreme Court ruling rejecting medical malpractice caps in wrongful death cases at $500,000 or $1 million, depending on the number of defendants.