Our headquarters is in Tallahassee, Florida but our bonding services are available in all 50 states. Every state has different bonding requirements and it’s important to stay abreast on important issues.This week we’d like to draw attention to North Carolina and the their efforts to decrease the number of medical malpractice claims and payments. The state’s legislative body overrode a veto by the governor and issued sweeping reforms (Medical Malpractice Law Change Bond Requirements).
The legislation known as Senate Bill 33 permits health care providers to have separate trials on the issues of liability and damages, caps recovery of noneconomic damages, heighten proof required to establish breach of standard of care, and shortens statute of limitations for minors. What does this have to do with surety bonding?
As the damages and liability amounts are capped and limited, the bonds on appeal will be lower (Medical Malpractice Law Change Bond Requirements). While lower bonds on appeal certainly sounds good, it’s important to see at what cost this is occurring.
We invite you to read about Senate Bill 33, which went into affect in October to see what you think. Feel free to leave a comment or email to discuss the issue.