New Jersey - Volume XII, Number 3 - March, 2003

TORT REFORM UPDATE

On March 20th, the New Jersey Senate, in a rare display of bipartisanship, voted 32-5 in favor of a tort reform bill which will cap non-economic damages at $300,000 per claim, and provide a fund for up to an additional $700,000 in non-economic damages following a verdict, to be funded by an annual assessment of $3 on employees, and $50 on lawyers, dentists, chiropractors, optometrists, and physicians. The bill also provides strong language to prevent “rogue” expert testimony, reduces the statute of limitations to 2 years after knowledge of an injury, and tolls the statute of limitations for minors only until their eleventh birthday. The bill must still pass the Assembly and an uphill battle is expected. Grassroots organizations are already planning further demonstrations to impress upon the Assembly the need for swift action on this bill.

HIPAA PRIVACY MANUAL NOW AVAILABLE WITHOUT CHARGE

Clients of Kern Augustine will be able to download, free of charge, through the firm’s website, www.drlaw.com, a HIPAA Privacy Policy and Procedure Manual, with forms, ready for adaptation to their own practice. Similar materials are being sold nationally for up to $1500. Interested clients can call Bill Somers for details. Members of MSNJ may also download these materials through a link from the MSNJ website at www.msnj.org. Should any physician or physician’s practice have any additional needs, Kern Augustine stands ready to provide personalized assistance.

NEW JERSEY OFFICE OF INSURANCE FRAUD PROSECUTOR RELEASES 2002 ANNUAL REPORT ON INSURANCE FRAUD ENFORCEMENT

The New Jersey Attorney General and the New Jersey Insurance Fraud Prosecutor have released the 2002 Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor (OIFP) Annual Report detailing the investigations, prosecutions, and civil actions undertaken by that office during the past year. The OIFP is the centralized state agency that investigates and prosecutes civil and criminal insurance fraud and Medicaid fraud.

•In 2002, the OIFP charged 225 defendants, versus 118 in 2001, and imposed sanctions in 3,723 civil fraud cases, compared to 2,063 civil sanctions obtained in 2001, collecting $20.6 million in penalties in 2002, up from $15.8 million in 2001.

•In 2003, the OIFP opened 508 new criminal investigations and obtained 154 convictions resulting in 46 defendants being sentenced to more than 121 years in jail, and the imposition of more than $6.7 million in restitution and nearly $1.1 million in criminal and civil fines. Civil investigators also obtained 877 consent orders for more than $6.1 million in civil insurance fraud penalties.

Governor McGreevey has also announced initiatives to expand the crimes that trigger automatic license revocation or suspension for health care professionals and others who commit health insurance fraud and to create a new crime of insurance fraud to give prosecutors even more tools for enforcement. Kern Augustine is pleased to announce the hiring of Elizabeth Legiec, a former NJ Deputy Attorney General and Essex County Prosecutor, who will join Douglas Nadjari, former Deputy Chief of the Homicide, Felony Trial, Investigations and Major Frauds Bureaus of the Kings County District Attorney’s Office and Rudolph Gabriel, former Special Federal Prosecutor, in handling criminal and civil fraud cases.

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