Florida: Attorney General

Candidates

Charlie Crist, Republican
Buddy Dyer, Democrat

Issues: Nursing Home Quality | Long Term Care | Utility Regulation |

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Question

Florida law provides the right to sue and recover damages when a long-term care facility provides negligent care that results in injury or death to a resident. What is your position on limiting non-economic compensatory damage awards against facilities whose negligent care results in a resident’s injury or death?

AARP Response

AARP believes that the right to sue a long-term care facility when negligent care results in a resident’s injury or death is essential to our efforts to ensure the quality of long-term care. Arbitrary limits on the damages awarded in lawsuits devalue the worth of older people and seriously impede or eliminate this right.

The staff report of the Task Force on the Availability and Affordability of Long-term Care found no frivolous lawsuits filed against long-term care facilities. Lawsuits are filed when residents suffer serious injuries and conditions such as bedsores, malnutrition, dehydration and broken bones.

The single-most important factor in preventing these problems is the presence of adequate numbers of well-trained staff. Florida law now provides for minimum staffing levels and the legislature appropriated the funds to achieve these levels.

Senate Bill 1202, passed by the 2001 legislature, created a carefully developed balance between regulation, quality, litigation reform, and funding. This important legislation will, when fully implemented, reduce the number of lawsuits, improve the quality of care and protect the rights of residents to seek redress in the courts when they are harmed.

AARP will oppose any change in the law that would alter the balance created in Senate Bill 1202 because any such change would be harmful to residents.

Issue	Yes	No	Unclear
Opposes any limits on compensatory damages.
Supports right of residents to sue nursing home and assisted living facilities.
Opposes any changes to the law created by Senate Bill 1202 (Florida law 2001-45)

Candidate Response: Charlie Crist

The candidate was invited to participate in this voter guide, but did not respond by the publishing deadline.

Candidate Response: Buddy Dyer

As a State Senator for the past ten years, I have always been opposed to limiting compensatory damages for nursing home residents. I believe that nursing home residents and their families deserve the protections provided by these types of damages. My primary concern regarding nursing homes has always been quality of care. I believe that compensatory damages coupled with increased staffing ratios and increased pay for the nursing home employees is the only way to ensure that our loved ones are protected.

Question

Many people cannot find affordable, quality home and community-based long-term care and face long waiting lists when they need help with the cost of their care. How would you improve the availability, affordability and quality of long-term care, particularly home and community-based care?

AARP Response

Long-term care services can be costly. Many people cannot afford to pay for them. Public funding for long-term care is limited and waiting lists for services are long. Many people do not have family or friends to help them and few have private long-term care insurance.

In addition, the current long-term care system is fragmented and confusing to those who need to use it. Public funding is used predominantly for nursing home care. The amount and quality of services is inadequate. Information about the availability and quality of services is not readily available to consumers.

Because of these problems many older people do not receive the long-term care services they need. They live in fear of impoverishing themselves and becoming a burden to their families. Their health and the quality of their lives decline unnecessarily.

Florida must have a comprehensive, cohesive system to meet the long-term care needs of all Floridians regardless of age and income. Creating such a system must be a legislative priority.

The system should:

• Be adequately funded,
  
  
• Emphasize home and community-based care,
  
  
• Focus on the needs of consumers,
  
  
• Provide for consumers to direct their own care,
  
  
• Support the role of families in providing care,
  
  
• Be easily accessible.
  
  
• Coordinate with private insurance coverage,
  
  
• Focus on the quality of care and the quality of life,
  
  
• Improve the coordination between health and long-term care services,and
  
  
• Be efficiently administered.
  
  

Issue	Yes	No	Unclear
Supports funding to eliminate waiting lists.
Proposes ways to meet the long-term care needs of all Floridians.
Supports the development of a long-term care system focused on the needs of consumers not providers.

Candidate Response: Charlie Crist

The candidate was invited to participate in this voter guide, but did not respond by the publishing deadline.

Candidate Response: Buddy Dyer

As a State Senator for the past ten years, I have worked to ensure that nursing home residents receive the highest quality of care. Unfortunately, that is not always the case and in those instances I have worked to ensure that their loved ones have the ability to hold those facilities responsible for their actions. As the Attorney General, I would use the second highest office in the state to pull together representatives from the nursing home industry and groups like AARP to negotiate proposals to improve the availability, affordability, and quality of long-term care.

Question

In recent years the Florida legislature has considered a number of proposals that would alter the regulation of public utilities and benefit service providers at the expense of service consumers. How would you protect Florida consumers from unnecessary increases in their electric and basic phone bills?

AARP Response

Telecommunications: The 2002 legislature passed legislation that would have increased consumer’s basic phone rates. This Governor vetoed this legislation.

Supporters claimed it would stimulate competition by eliminating access charges paid by long-distance companies. Local companies would make up the revenue loss by increasing basic rates. Local companies claimed this increase was necessary because basic rates do not cover the cost of this service.

AARP disagrees and contends that this is a declining cost industry. Compensation to the local telephone companies for access charge reductions is unnecessary.

Electricity: The legislature has considered restructuring the electric industry to stimulate competition.

The benefits of restructuring for residential consumers are unclear. Lower rates are not guaranteed because residential consumers do not purchase enough electricity to be attractive to competitors.

If the electric industry is restructured, residential ratepayers must receive equitable and simultaneous benefits, including rate reductions, equal access and better service, from retail competition.

Issue	Yes	No	Unclear
Supports electric deregulation beneficial to consumers
Opposes increase in basic consumer phone rates.

Candidate Response: Charlie Crist

The candidate was invited to participate in this voter guide, but did not respond by the publishing deadline.

Candidate Response: Buddy Dyer

During the 2002 Legislative Session, I voted against the access fees bill that would have increased basic consumer phone rates. In addition, I am opposed to allowing Florida to get into the wholesale electric business. I believe that in the case of electric deregulation our system works and I am opposed to changing it unless the proposal will significantly reduce consumer rates.