The Arkansas Ethics Commission cautioned the state's largest association of long-term care facilities earlier this month over the group's spending of hundreds of thousands of dollars to support a proposed tort measure that aims to cap certain damages in medical lawsuits.
The complaint against the Arkansas Health Care Association -- filed by Little Rock attorney and blogger Matthew Campbell in July -- argued that the group surpassed the contribution benchmark that would require it to disclose its own donors.
The Health Care Association, which represents more than 93 percent of Arkansas' long-term care facilities, has given $580,000 in donations to the Health Care Access for Arkansans ballot committee. The ballot committee paid for the petitioning for the amendment, which will appear as Issue 4 on the Nov. 8 general election ballot.
In response to Campbell's complaint, the association filed as its own ballot committee in support of Issue 4 and released reports with several pages disclosing hundreds of donations from rehabilitation centers, nursing homes and other care centers.
Issue 4 would amend the Arkansas Constitution to limit the fees attorneys receive if they win cases against medical care providers to one-third of damages. It would also require the Legislature to set a maximum cap of at least $250,000 for noneconomic damages -- such as pain and suffering -- in those cases.
In addition to a public letter of caution delivered Sept. 9, the Ethics Commission said it would fine the association a $150 late filing fee for the reports.
The association signed a consent decree agreeing to a finding that it had violated reporting requirements under Arkansas Code Annotated 7-9-402 for groups that give more than $10,000 and 2 percent of annual earnings or expenses in support of a ballot committee.
Neither party has appealed the decision, said Ethics Commission Director Graham Sloan.
Campbell said in an email that he believed the Ethics Commission had made the correct decision, but wished for a harsher penalty.
"This was about making the Health Care Association play by the same rules everyone else has to follow, and that's what happened, so I'd call the whole thing a success from that standpoint," Campbell said.
In a statement, a spokesman for the Arkansas Health Care Association said the group is moving on to educate voters about Issue 4.
The entirety of the group's donations reported to the Ethics Commission were given to the Health Care Access committee. In followup filings reported last week, the association reported no donations or expenditures related to Issue 4 in August.
Citing discussions with the Ethics Commission, the association said in its original filing last month that it would not disclose additional revenue or expenditures that were unrelated to its support of the tort measure.
The association's contributions amount to more than half of the total $933,110 raised by the ballot committee supporting Issue 4.
Three committees opposing the amendment have been formed by patient advocates, the Arkansas Bar Association and the Family Council. Contributions from trial lawyers, totaling more than $730,000, have made up the majority of funds given in opposition to the measure.
Metro on 09/21/2016