The 1986–1988 Governor’s Task Force on Medical Malpractice
By the mid-1980s, concerns surrounding medical malpractice insurance had intensified across the United States. Physicians, hospitals, insurers, and policymakers were debating whether the civil liability system was contributing to rapidly rising insurance premiums and instability within the malpractice insurance market.
In Florida, these concerns prompted the state government to undertake a formal investigation of the issue. Rather than immediately adopting new legislation, state leaders sought to gather data and evaluate the structure of Florida’s medical liability system. The result was the creation of the Governor’s Task Force on Medical Malpractice, which operated from 1986 through 1988.
The work of this Task Force would ultimately play an important role in shaping the legislative discussions that followed.
Creation of the Task Force
The Task Force was established by the Governor of Florida in response to mounting concerns about the availability and affordability of medical malpractice insurance within the state.
Reports from physicians and health care organizations indicated that malpractice insurance premiums had risen sharply in certain specialties. In some cases, insurers had withdrawn from the malpractice market entirely, reducing the number of available carriers.
These developments led policymakers to ask several key questions:
Were malpractice lawsuits driving increases in insurance premiums?
Were jury verdicts increasing in size or frequency?
Was the malpractice insurance market functioning properly?
Did Florida’s medical liability laws require reform?
To address these questions, the Governor convened a multidisciplinary Task Force composed of representatives from several sectors involved in the medical liability system.
The Task Force included participants from:
the medical profession
the legal community
the insurance industry
academic institutions
and government agencies.
This diverse membership was intended to ensure that the investigation would examine the malpractice system from multiple perspectives.
Scope of the Investigation
The Task Force conducted an extensive review of Florida’s medical malpractice environment. Its work included the collection and analysis of data from a wide range of sources.
Among the issues examined were:
malpractice insurance premiums and underwriting practices
the frequency and severity of malpractice claims
trends in jury verdicts and settlements
the cost of defending medical negligence lawsuits
the availability of malpractice insurance coverage in Florida.
The Task Force also reviewed how other states were responding to similar concerns and examined national trends in malpractice litigation and insurance markets.
This research was intended to determine whether changes to Florida’s legal framework might be necessary to stabilize the malpractice insurance system while preserving the ability of injured patients to pursue legitimate claims.
Key Observations
The Task Force’s findings reflected the complexity of the medical malpractice system. Its report acknowledged that rising malpractice insurance premiums were a significant concern for many physicians and hospitals.
At the same time, the Task Force noted that multiple factors could influence the cost of malpractice insurance, including:
litigation expenses
the size and frequency of malpractice claims
insurance underwriting practices
and broader economic conditions affecting the insurance industry.
The report emphasized that malpractice insurance pricing was not determined solely by jury verdicts or lawsuits. Investment returns, insurance market competition, and other economic factors could also influence premium levels.
As a result, the Task Force approached the issue with the understanding that no single factor could fully explain the challenges facing the malpractice insurance market.
Policy Considerations
In evaluating potential reforms, the Task Force considered how changes to the medical liability system might affect several competing public policy goals.
These included:
maintaining access to affordable health care
ensuring the availability of malpractice insurance coverage for physicians
preserving accountability for negligent medical care
and protecting the ability of injured patients and families to pursue civil remedies.
Balancing these interests proved to be one of the central challenges of the Task Force’s work.
Any changes to the liability system would have to consider not only the financial stability of the insurance market, but also the role of civil litigation in addressing medical negligence.
Recommendations to the Legislature
In 1988, the Task Force issued its final report and provided a series of recommendations for policymakers to consider.
These recommendations addressed multiple aspects of Florida’s medical malpractice system, including:
procedural rules governing malpractice litigation
insurance regulatory issues
and potential modifications to damages available in certain types of medical negligence cases.
The report did not represent the end of the policy debate. Rather, it served as a foundation for legislative discussion, providing lawmakers with data and analysis intended to inform future reforms.
In the years that followed, Florida lawmakers enacted several changes affecting medical negligence law and malpractice insurance regulation.
One of the most consequential of these changes occurred in 1990, when the legislature adopted a modification to Florida’s Wrongful Death Act affecting certain medical negligence cases.
This amendment—now codified as Florida Statute §768.21(8)—limited the availability of certain non-economic damages in defined circumstances.
Understanding how that provision was structured, and how it interacts with the framework established by the 1972 Wrongful Death Act, is essential to evaluating the ongoing debate surrounding Subsection (8).
The next section examines how that amendment was enacted and how it altered Florida’s wrongful death framework.