Louisiana Patient's Compensation Fund, Amendment 3 (October 2011)

Amendment 3
Type	Constitutional amendment
Origin	Louisiana State Legislature
Topic	Healthcare
Status	Approved a

The Louisiana Patient's Compensation Fund, Amendment 3 was on the October 22, 2011 statewide ballot in Louisiana as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment where it was approved a.

The measure called for creating a private custodial fund for the use, benefit, and protection of medical malpractice claimants and private health care provider members.

Election results

Amendment 3 (October 2011)
Result		Votes	Percentage
a Yes		475660	53.31%
No		416581	46.69%

Source: Louisiana Secretary of State, official results 10/22/11

Text of measure

The ballot question read:

To authorize the legislature to establish a private custodial fund, designated as the Patient's Compensation Fund, for the use, benefit, and protection of medical malpractice claimants and private health care provider members; to provide that assets of the fund shall not be state property.

Constitutional changes

Amendment 3 added Article XII, Section 16.

Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.

§16. Patient's Compensation Fund

Section 16.(A) Authorization. Notwithstanding any other provision of this constitution to the contrary, the legislature may establish a private custodial fund to be designated the "Patient's Compensation Fund." Any deposits into a fund established pursuant to this Section are not public monies, but are self-generated, private monies to be held in trust by a board created by the legislature for the use, benefit, and protection of medical malpractice claimants and the private health care provider members. Pursuant to Article VII, Section 10(J) of this constitution, such funds shall not be defined as state general funds or dedicated funds required for deposit in the state treasury.

(B) Patient's Compensation Fund assets. The assets of a fund, when established pursuant to this Section, shall not be state property, shall not be subject to appropriation by the legislature, and shall not be required for deposit in the state treasury pursuant to Article VII, Section 9(A) of this constitution. Assets of such a fund shall consist of all surcharges collected from health care provider members and filing fees collected from claimants, all reserves to pay future claims, all interest earned upon any monies invested by the board, any securities acquired through the investment of fund monies, all earnings on such securities, and all other monies and assets deposited into the fund.

(C) Guaranty fund. Any such fund created pursuant to this Section shall be exempt from participation in and shall not join or contribute financially to or be entitled to the protection of any plan, pool, association, or guaranty fund or insolvency fund.

(D) Full faith and credit. No fund nor board that may be created pursuant to this Section may rely on the full faith and credit of this state for the payment of legal obligations.

(E) State general funds. Any such fund or board created pursuant to this Section shall not be entitled to an appropriation of state general funds without a specific appropriation approved by the legislature.

Support

Supporters of the proposed amendment argued that the funds going into the existing Patient’s Compensation Fund were from private health care providers and as such should remain available for the "use, benefit, and protection of medical malpractice claimants and private health care provider members," according to reports. The proposed amendment would safe guard against statutory changes to make the funds available for public use. Additionally, supporters noted that the amendment would also safe guard the state against any additional payments in reference to the fund (for example: legal obligations).

In a statement the Council for A Better Louisiana announced their support for the proposed amendment. "While CABL does not generally support the proliferation of amendments to the constitution, we recognize that some are needed to change policies that are already established in the constitution. We believe all of the changes proposed for the October ballot are reasonable and make sense from a policy perspective," said Barry Erwin, president of the council, in a statement.

Note: As of September 2011 there was no organized support or campaign effort.

Donors

According to the state campaign finance database, there were no registered committees (PACs).

(last updated December 2011)

Opposition

Opponents argued that the amendment was unnecessary. In response to supporters who argued that the amendment would ensure that funds are not used for state purposes, opponents said that the legislature has never made such an effort.

Note: As of September 2011 there was no organized opposition or campaign effort.

Healthcare on the ballot in 2011

Donors

According to the state campaign finance database, there were no registered committees (PACs).

(last updated December 2011)

Media editorial positions

See also: Endorsements of Louisiana ballot measures, 2011

Support

• The Daily Iberian said, "No. 3 would eliminate the chance the Legislature might do something it's never done - dipping into a fund set up to pay medical malpractice claims, funded by those in the medical professions. Since it's not protected, it could be used by some future creative legislation, so this amendment locks the funds down only for the currently projected use."
• Houma Today said, "This is a good idea that simply protects something that is already being done."

Opposition

• The News-Star said, "...this fund is covered in statute, and the Legislature has not attempted to raid it to balance the budget."
• The Times-Picayune said, "The Legislature has never attempted to raid the fund. In addition, many other similar funds have been set up by the state for private interest groups that also might want or seek protection in the Constitution -- which could further clog the document with exceptions. This amendment also would provide for the state to put public money into the Patient's Compensation Fund, in effect setting up a potential bailout. That may not be in the best interests of taxpayers."

Path to the ballot

See also: Louisiana legislatively referred constitutional amendments

If 2/3rds of the members of both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature voted in the affirmative, a legislatively referred constitutional amendment could be placed on the statewide ballot.

On June 1, 2011 the House voted 88-0 in favor of the proposed amendment. The Senate similarily approved the measure following a 38-0 vote on June 19, 2011. The measure was referred to the Louisiana Secretary of State for the statewide ballot on June 23, 2011.

Timeline

The following is a timeline of events surrounding the measure:

Event	Date	Developments
House vote	June 1 2011	House voted 88-0 in favor of referring the measure
Senate vote	June 19, 2011	Senate voted 38-0 in favor of the proposal
Certified	June 23, 2011	Referred and certified for the 2011 ballot

See also

• 2011 ballot measures
• Louisiana 2011 ballot measures

Articles

• Election preview: Louisiana ballot measures focus on state budget funds
• Election results: Louisiana ballot measures
• Election aftermath: 3 Louisiana measures approved, 2 defeated in primaries (updated)

External links

• House Bill 341 text (dead link)
• League of Women Voters of Louisiana - Voter Guide 2011 Louisiana constitutional amendments
• Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana - Guide to the 2011 Constitutional Amendments

Additional reading

• St. Tammany News, "Amendments will benefit students, veterans," October 12, 2011
• The Times-Picayune, "Louisiana voters will weigh in 5 changes proposed for state Constitution," October 8, 2011
• DailyComet.com, "La. voters to consider six amendments," September 11, 2011