Florida: State House District 45

Candidates

Tom Anderson, Republican
Kevin Jensen, 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 for nursing home residents.
Supports protecting the 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: Tom Anderson

As a senior citizen and a veteran who has had relatives in nursing homes, I recognize the physical and financial hardship that is created. I am in favor of Florida law that 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. In view of the exodus of doctors from practicing in Florida because of high insurance premiums, I also believe there should be some limits on non-economic compensatory damage awards.

Candidate Response: Kevin Jensen

I have a first hand and intimate knowledge of nursing homes as a transport Emergency Medical Technician in Pasco, as a care giving son of strong willed woman who didn’t want to be a “burden on the family”, and as an employee in a 165 bed skilled nursing home in the early 80’s.

If the caring family has a bad thing happen to a family member in a nursing home I believe that the lawsuit amount should reflect the decision by the jury. I further believe that settling a law suit before going to a jury does not fix the problem of out of control law suits nor does it provide the incentive for insurance companies to offer protection to the well run and respectable nursing homes.

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 current and future waiting lists for people who need financial assistance.
Proposes ways to meet the long-term care needs of all Floridians, not just those who need financial assistance.
Supports the development of a long-term care system focused on the needs of consumers not providers.

Candidate Response: Tom Anderson

I believe that more funding should be provided for in-home and community-based long-term care. As the president of the Area Agency on Aging for Pasco and Pinellas counties I have seen statistics indicating that in home-care provided by caregivers, e.g. relatives, friends, aids, is very cost effective and preserves the quality of life. In-home care costs approximately ¼ to 1/7 of nursing home care; therefore many patients can be served and seniors could stay in their own homes.

Candidate Response: Kevin Jensen

I have been in the trenches with at risk seniors. While at Palm Harbor Fire Rescue I brought the Elder Links Project into the daily operations. The Elder-Links Project provides a safety net for elderly persons who are vulnerable to abuse, neglect or exploitation as indicated by repeated "non-medically oriented" emergency calls. The Elder-Links Project provides a series of community-based services to maximize an elder's independence, allowing them remain in the community and at home. I will fight for continued funding of elderlinks.

I believe a person should remain at home and receive in home health assistance before institutional placement. Community based initiatives and avenues to provide socialization of shut ins should be funded through state grants and local tax initiatives.

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

The 2002 legislature passed legislation that would have increased consumer’s basic phone rates by as much as $8 per month. This legislation was vetoed by the Governor at the urging on AARP and other consumer groups.

Supporters of this legislation claimed it would stimulate competition in the local phone services and ultimately benefit consumers. The claim was based on the faulty idea that local phone rates are being subsidized by other services offered by local phone service companies. The bill was supposed to correct this subsidy problem.

AARP disputes that local service is subsidized and offers evidence to prove the point. (see AARP publication -- Current Issues in the Pricing of Telecommunications Services). AARP further challenged supposed consumer protections that were added to the bill. There was no consumer protection in the bill that would have offset the massive phone rate increases it would have led to.

Electricity: In the hope of encouraging lower prices, higher service quality and greater innovation, lawmakers across the country are considering whether and how to restructure the electric industry to allow consumers to purchase electricity from competing suppliers rather than from the traditional regulated monopoly structure. The Governor’s 2020 Energy Commission is considering restructuring in Florida.

The extent to which implementation of retail competition benefits residential consumers is unclear. Benefits in the form of lower rates are not guaranteed to residential ratepayers, who are at a disadvantage since they do not purchase enough electricity to be as attractive to competitors as industrial customers. If the outcome of restructuring is left entirely to the marketplace, residential consumers are likely to be the last class of customers to benefit if they receive any benefits at all.

If the electric industry in Florida is restructured, safeguards should be adopted that ensure just, reasonable and affordable rates and high-quality service for residential customers under retail competition. The legislature should ensure that residential ratepayers receive equitable and simultaneous benefits, including rate reductions, equal access and better service, from retail competition.

Issue	Yes	No	Unclear
Supports electric deregulation that specifically benefits the consumer.
Opposes an increase in basic consumer phone rates.

Candidate Response: Tom Anderson

I am in favor of changing the regulations of the utility industry in order to introduce more competition. Reduced regulations and increased competition should help reduce utility rates.

Candidate Response: Kevin Jensen

First I would need a definition of unnecessary. Increases to help pay for equipment maintenance and employee salaries are valid. Increases to offset high CEO compensation packages is not valid. I do not believe in monopolies for communications or for utilities. Competition promotes fair pricing.