Florida Senate - 2022 SB 646 By Senator Hooper 16-00897-22 2022646__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to the Quality of Long-Term Care 3 Facility Improvement Trust Fund; amending ss. 4 400.0238, 400.0239, and 429.298, F.S.; deleting 5 provisions requiring that a portion of the punitive 6 damages awarded for claims brought under part II of 7 ch. 400, F.S., relating to nursing homes, and part I 8 of ch. 429, F.S., relating to assisted living 9 facilities, be deposited into the Quality of Long-Term 10 Care Facility Improvement Trust Fund; providing an 11 effective date. 12 13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 14 15 Section 1.Subsection (4) of section 400.0238, Florida 16 Statutes, is amended to read: 17 400.0238Punitive damages; limitation. 18 (4)Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the 19 amount of punitive damages awarded pursuant to this section 20 shall be equally divided between the claimant and the Quality of 21 Long-Term Care Facility Improvement Trust Fund, in accordance 22 with the following provisions: 23 (a)The clerk of the court shall transmit a copy of the 24 jury verdict to the Chief Financial Officer by certified mail. 25 In the final judgment, the court shall order the percentages of 26 the award, payable as provided herein. 27 (b)A settlement agreement entered into between the 28 original parties to the action after a verdict has been returned 29 must provide a proportionate share payable to the Quality of 30 Long-Term Care Facility Improvement Trust Fund specified herein. 31 For purposes of this paragraph, a proportionate share is a 50 32 percent share of that percentage of the settlement amount which 33 the punitive damages portion of the verdict bore to the total of 34 the compensatory and punitive damages in the verdict. 35 (c)The Department of Financial Services shall collect or 36 cause to be collected all payments due the state under this 37 section. Such payments are made to the Chief Financial Officer 38 and deposited in the appropriate fund specified in this 39 subsection. 40 (d)If the full amount of punitive damages awarded cannot 41 be collected, the claimant and the other recipient designated 42 pursuant to this subsection are each entitled to a proportionate 43 share of the punitive damages collected. 44 Section 2.Subsection (1) of section 400.0239, Florida 45 Statutes, is amended to read: 46 400.0239Quality of Long-Term Care Facility Improvement 47 Trust Fund. 48 (1)There is created within the Agency for Health Care 49 Administration a Quality of Long-Term Care Facility Improvement 50 Trust Fund to support activities and programs directly related 51 to improvement of the care of nursing home and assisted living 52 facility residents. The trust fund shall be funded through 53 proceeds generated pursuant to ss. 400.0238 and 429.298, through 54 funds specifically appropriated by the Legislature, through 55 gifts, endowments, and other charitable contributions allowed 56 under federal and state law, and through federal nursing home 57 civil monetary penalties collected by the Centers for Medicare 58 and Medicaid Services and returned to the state. These funds 59 must be utilized in accordance with federal requirements. 60 Section 3.Subsection (4) of section 429.298, Florida 61 Statutes, is amended to read: 62 429.298Punitive damages; limitation. 63 (4)Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the 64 amount of punitive damages awarded pursuant to this section 65 shall be equally divided between the claimant and the Quality of 66 Long-Term Care Facility Improvement Trust Fund, in accordance 67 with the following provisions: 68 (a)The clerk of the court shall transmit a copy of the 69 jury verdict to the Chief Financial Officer by certified mail. 70 In the final judgment, the court shall order the percentages of 71 the award, payable as provided herein. 72 (b)A settlement agreement entered into between the 73 original parties to the action after a verdict has been returned 74 must provide a proportionate share payable to the Quality of 75 Long-Term Care Facility Improvement Trust Fund specified herein. 76 For purposes of this paragraph, a proportionate share is a 50 77 percent share of that percentage of the settlement amount which 78 the punitive damages portion of the verdict bore to the total of 79 the compensatory and punitive damages in the verdict. 80 (c)The Department of Financial Services shall collect or 81 cause to be collected all payments due the state under this 82 section. Such payments are made to the Chief Financial Officer 83 and deposited in the appropriate fund specified in this 84 subsection. 85 (d)If the full amount of punitive damages awarded cannot 86 be collected, the claimant and the other recipient designated 87 pursuant to this subsection are each entitled to a proportionate 88 share of the punitive damages collected. 89 Section 4.This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.