['F', 'o5.carm', 'alas', 'i', 'dosoctaled', 'Industries', 'of', 'Porida', '   ', ' ', ' ', 'Apnl', '25,', '1994', 'The', 'Honorable', 'Lawton', 'Chiles', 'Governor', 'State', 'of', 'Florida', 'The', 'Capitol,', 'PL', 'Ol', 'Tallahassee,', 'Florida', '32399-0001', 'RE:', 'Amendments', 'to', 'Medicaid', 'Third', 'Party', 'Liability', 'Act', 'Dear', 'Governor:', 'I', 'write', 'on', 'behalf', 'of', 'Associated', 'Industries', 'of', 'Florida', 'to', 'express', 'our', 'grave', 'concer', 'over', 'Committee', 'Substitute', 'for', 'Committee', 'Substitute', 'for', 'Senate', 'Bill', '2110', 'as', 'amended', 'by', 'Senators', 'Jenne', 'and', 'Forman', 'on', 'Thursday,', 'April', '7,', 'We', 'understand', 'that', 'you', 'support', 'legislation', 'that', 'would', 'authorize', 'the', 'State', 'to', 'recover', 'Medicaid', 'expenditures', 'by', 'suing', 'third', 'parties', 'who', 'are', 'liable', 'for', 'a', 'Medicaid', "recipient's", 'condition.', 'While', 'on', 'its', 'face', 'such', 'a', 'concept', 'would', 'appear', 'to', 'preserve', 'state', 'resources.', 'in', 'reality', 'quite', 'the', 'reverse', 'is', 'true:', 'as', 'drafted,', 'CS/CS', 'SB', 'Bill', '2110', 'creates', 'a', 'ligation', 'breeding', 'ground', 'that', 'will', 'exact', 'a', 'severe', 'toll', 'from', 'businesses,', 'industries,', 'auto', 'and', 'liability', 'carriers,', 'and', 'the', 'State', 'Casualty', 'Trust', 'Fund.', 'Pursuant', 'to', 'a', 'mandatory', 'directive', 'in', 'CS/CS', 'SB', '2110,', 'the', 'State', 'will', 'be', 'required', 'to', 'file', 'suit', 'to', 'collect', 'against', 'all', 'potentially', 'liable', 'third', 'parties.', 'Language', 'in', 'the', 'Bill', 'authorizing', 'contingency', 'fee', 'confracts', 'with', 'private', 'attorneys,', 'coupled', 'with', 'the', 'sheer', 'number', 'of', 'Medicaid', 'recipients', 'and', 'the', 'reality', 'of', 'limited', 'state', 'resources,', 'is', 'tailor-made', 'to', 'foster', 'a', 'cottage', 'litigation', 'industry.', 'Indeed,', 'the', 'legislation', 'encourages', 'litigation', 'by', 'significandy', 'expanding', 'both', 'the', 'statute', 'of', 'limitations', 'and', 'the', 'principles', 'of', 'liability', 'embodied', 'in', 'the', 'common', 'law', 'of', 'tort.', 'Each', 'item', 'of', 'Medicaid', 'expense', 'constitutes', 'a', 'separate', 'cause', 'of', 'action,', 'essentially', 'eliminating', 'the', 'starute', 'of', 'Limitations', 'in', 'cases', 'involving', 'long', 'term', 'illness', 'or', 'disability.', 'Moreover,', 'the', 'legislation', 'authorizes', 'class', 'actions', 'and', 'recovery', 'under', 'a', 'market', 'share', 'theory', 'of', 'liability.', 'Finally', '--', 'and', 'incredibly', '--', 'not', 'only', 'does', 'the', 'Bill', 'permit', 'proof', 'of', 'causation', 'and', 'damages', '“by', 'use', 'of', 'statistical', 'analysis,”', 'but', 'it', 'also', 'precludes', 'a', 'defendant', 'from', 'raising', 'affirmative', 'defenses', 'essential', 'to', 'ensure', 'a', 'fair', 'result.', 'We', 'have', 'been', 'advised', 'by', 'the', 'drafters', 'of', 'the', 'amendment', 'that', 'the', 'Medicaid', 'Third', 'Party', 'Liability', 'Act,', 'as', 'amended', 'by', 'CS/CS', 'SB', 'Bill', '2110,', 'is', 'designed', 'amy', 'to', 'shift', 'Medicaid', 'costs', 'from', 'taxpayers', 'to', 'certain', 'manufacturers', 'whose', '“carcinogenic”', 'products', 'cause', 'ailments', 'afflicting', 'the', 'population', 'of', 'Medicaid', 'recipients.', 'But', 'the', 'undiscriminating', 'reach', 'of', 'this', 'legislation', 'will', 'shift', 'TCAL0468409']