§1231.2. Limitation of recovery
A. To be qualified under the provisions of this Part, a health care provider shall:
(1) Cause to be filed with the board proof of financial responsibility as provided by
Subsection E of this Section.
(2) Pay the surcharge assessed by this Part on all health care providers according to
R.S. 40:1231.4.
(3) For self-insured health care providers, initial qualification shall be effective upon
acceptance of proof of financial responsibility by and payment of the surcharge to the board.
Initial qualification shall be effective for all other health care providers at the time the
malpractice insurer accepts payment of the surcharge.
B.(1) The total amount recoverable for all malpractice claims for injuries to or death
of a patient, exclusive of future medical care and related benefits as provided in R.S.
40:1231.3, shall not exceed five hundred thousand dollars plus interest and cost.
(2) A health care provider qualified under this Part is not liable for an amount in
excess of one hundred thousand dollars plus interest thereon accruing after April 1, 1991, and
costs specifically provided for by this Paragraph for all malpractice claims because of injuries
to or death of any one patient. The sole cost for which a health care provider qualified under
this Part may be assessed by a trial court shall be limited to the cost incurred prior to the
rendering of a final judgment against the health care provider, not as a nominal defendant,
after a trial on a malpractice claim, including but not limited to, costs assessed pursuant to
Code of Civil Procedure Article 970 in any instance where the board was not the offeror or
offeree of the proposed settlement amount. The health care provider shall not be assessed
costs in any action in which the fund intervenes or the health care provider is a nominal
defendant after there has been a settlement between the health care provider and the claimant.
(3)(a) Any amount due from a judgment or settlement or from a final award in an
arbitration proceeding which is in excess of the total liability of all liable health care
providers, as provided in Paragraph (2) of this Subsection, shall be paid from the patient's
compensation fund pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 40:1231.4(C).
(b) The total amounts paid in accordance with Paragraphs (2) and (3) of this
Subsection shall not exceed the limitation as provided in Paragraph (1) of this Subsection.
C. Except as provided in R.S. 40:1231.4(C), any advance payment made by the
defendant health care provider or his insurer to or for the plaintiff, or any other person, may
not be construed as an admission of liability for injuries or damages suffered by the plaintiff
or anyone else in an action brought for medical malpractice.
D.(1) Evidence of an advance payment is not admissible until there is a final
judgment in favor of the plaintiff, in which event the court shall reduce the judgment to the
plaintiff to the extent of the advance payment.
(2) The advance payment shall inure to the exclusive benefit of the defendant or his
insurer making the payment.
(3) In the event the advance payment exceeds the liability of the defendant or the
insurer making it, the court shall order any adjustment necessary to equalize the amount
which each defendant is obligated to pay, exclusive of costs.
(4) In no case shall an advance payment in excess of an award be repayable by the
person receiving it.
(5) In the event that a partial settlement is executed between the defendant and/or his
insurer with a plaintiff for the sum of one hundred thousand dollars or less, written notice of
such settlement shall be sent to the board. Such settlement shall not bar the continuation of
the action against the patient's compensation fund for excess sums in which event the court
sha1l reduce any judgment to the plaintiff in the amount of malpractice liability insurance
in force as provided for in R.S. 40:1231.2(B)(2).
E.(1) Financial responsibility of a health care provider under this Section may be
established only by filing with the board proof that the health care provider is insured by a
policy of malpractice liability insurance in the amount of at least one hundred thousand
dollars per claim with qualification under this Section taking effect and following the same
form as the policy of malpractice liability insurance of the health care provider, or in the
event the health care provider is self-insured, proof of financial responsibility by depositing
with the board one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars in money or represented by
irrevocable letters of credit, federally insured certificates of deposit, bonds, securities, cash
values of insurance, or any other security approved by the board. In the event any portion
of said amount is seized pursuant to the judicial process, the self-insured health care provider
shall have five days to deposit with the board the amounts so seized. The health care
provider's failure to timely post said amounts with the board shall terminate his enrollment
in the Patient's Compensation Fund.
(2) For the purposes of this Subsection, any group of self-insured health care
providers organized to and actually practicing together or otherwise related by ownership,
whether as a partnership, professional corporation or otherwise, shall be deemed a single
health care provider and shall not be required to post more than one deposit. In the event any
portion of the deposit of such a group is seized pursuant to judicial process, such group shall
have five days to deposit with the board the amounts so seized. The group's failure to timely
post said amounts with the board will terminate its enrollment and the enrollment of its
members in the Patient's Compensation Fund.
Added by Acts 1975, No. 817, §1. Amended by Acts 1976, No. 183, §3; Acts 1984,
No. 435, §2, eff. July 6, 1984; Acts 1986, No. 499, §1, eff. July 2, 1986; Acts 1990, No. 967,
§2, eff. Oct. 1, 1990; Acts 1991, No. 800, §1; Acts 2008, No. 558, §1; Redesignated from
R.S. 40:1299.42 by HCR 84 of 2015 R.S.
NOTE: Former R.S. 40:1231.2 redesignated to R.S. 40:1131.2 by HCR 84 of 2015
R.S.