TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis issued a statement following the Miami Herald’s reporting of the Florida Birth Related Neurological Injury Compensation Association (NICA). With the Florida Legislature currently deliberating legislation regarding NICA, the CFO called on lawmakers to read the article and make reforms to NICA to improve the overall quality of life for children, and their families, who will forever deal with challenges due to neurological injuries.

CFO Jimmy Patronis said, “As a parent of two boys, after reading this article it’s clear NICA has got to do better. I think while lawmakers are still in town, they’ve got the opportunity to fix many of the issues that are outlined by Carol Marbin Miller and Daniel Chang. When my wife Katie had our two boys - she had complications in each delivery, and I know that every loving parent is stressed out and undergoing an intense amount of emotions when their children are at risk. I cannot imagine or understand how difficult things are for families of children with neurological injuries, but we’ve got to figure out a way to make things easier for them.

“Although I’m not a member of the Legislature anymore, now is a perfect time to take the issues outlined in this article and do something about it. The Legislature should look at changing the laws governing board appointments. For example, the statute doesn’t require a non-doctor, parent, who is in the program, to be a member, yet requires doctors and insurer interests be represented. It’s also ridiculous that NICA’s money managers get more in lump sum payments than parents with sick babies. Most importantly, parents shouldn’t be put into a position where they feel pressured into signing their rights away. 

“Outside of what the Legislature can do, I talked to the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) this morning and asked Commissioner Altmaier to audit NICA. Two weeks ago, my office began conducting our own inspection of NICA.  We need to make sure these kids and their families aren’t being nickel-and-dimed. This program needs to treat these children with kindness instead of treating them as though they’re a liability for shareholders. It’s clear we need to make changes to the existing law. We can and will do better.”