Some Florida physicians for the first time will be required to carry professional liability insurance under a new law aimed at improving the safety of care during gluteal fat grafting procedures, commonly called Brazilian butt lifts, or BBLs.
Gov Ron DeSantis signed the bill into law late Friday.
BBLs involve two steps: the liposuction of fat from the abdomen or back, and the injection of the purified fat into the subcutaneous layer of the buttocks, below the skin but above the gluteal muscle.
The law requires physician-owned surgery centers where gluteal fat grafting procedures are performed to establish financial responsibility by either obtaining and maintaining professional liability coverage of at least $250,000 per claim, with a minimum annual aggregate of at least $750,000 from an authorized insurer, surplus lines insurer, risk retention group, joint underwriting association, or self-insurance plan; or obtaining and maintaining an unexpired, irrevocable letter of credit of at least $250,000 per claim, with a maximum aggregate credit availability of at least $750,000.
The mandate is a seismic policy change.
Florida law currently allows physicians to practice without medical malpractice or irrevocable letters of credit, often referred to as going "bare."
Doctors who go bare must post a sign in their waiting room indicating their decision to go bare and that they will satisfy a judgement of $100,000 (or $250,000 if they have hospital privileges).
The bill also closes what some have called a "loophole" in current law that required office surgery sites to register with the state if they performed procedures involving 1,000 cubic centimeters of fat removal. Some BBL providers argued that the fat was being relocated, not removed, and therefore they weren't required to register.
HB 1561 eliminates the loophole by requiring offices to register whether the fat is temporarily or permanently removed.
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