Court Opinion

ID: 9662938
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 23:23:51.717849+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:14:44.102352
License: Public Domain

Connolly, J.,
concurring.
I agree with and join the majority opinion but write separately to address several issues raised by Justice McCormack’s dissent.
*958After foraging for facts outside the record, Justice McCormack concludes in his dissent that the reason for the damages cap— availability of malpractice insurance at reasonable rates — no longer exists. The dissenting opinion states that “[n]ow, 27 years after enactment of the cap, the information available indicates otherwise.” Citing from the Trends in 2002 Rates for Physicians’ Medical Professional Liability Insurance (Med. Liab. Monitor 2002), the dissent concludes that the Nebraska Hospital-Medical Liability Act has not served to reduce the cost of medical malpractice insurance. But the dissent fails to provide all the data from the report. It also fails to note that while the cost of insurance has generally risen in all or most states, the overall cost of insurance in Nebraska is significantly less than it is in many states that do not have caps on damages. Thus, the data that the dissent uses can also support the argument that the cap has been effective in keeping the overall rate of insurance lower in Nebraska than in many other states.
Justice McCormack’s dissent next refers to physicians’ incomes, apparently for the proposition that because physicians earn substantial incomes, they can afford insurance. This misses the point. The Legislature was concerned when enacting the cap that physicians were leaving the medical practice or moving to states with a better malpractice climate because of the costs of insurance. A second concern was that as insurance prices rose, physicians would pass those costs on to their patients, resulting in more expensive health care. A physician’s income is irrelevant to these problems. Physicians, like those in any other profession, seek to maximize income and thus will seek to practice in states where they have less overhead expenses and will pass any increase in overhead expenses on to their patients.
Although I find Justice McCormack’s conclusions based on his statistical sources suspect, what is more inappropriate is that they are used at all. As the majority opinion stated, it is not the place of a court to second guess the wisdom of legislative acts, nor is it appropriate for a court to decide whether legislation continues to meet the purposes for which it was originally enacted. See Verba v. Ghaphery, 210 W. Va. 30, 552 S.E.2d 406 (2001). See, also, State v. Hunt, 220 Neb. 707, 371 N.W.2d 708 (1985), disapproved on other grounds, State v. Palmer, 224 Neb. 282, *959399 N.W.2d 706 (1986); Prendergast v. Nelson, 199 Neb. 97, 256 N.W.2d 657 (1977). Of further concern is that the sources used in the dissent were not before the Legislature and are not in the record. Instead, if the evidence from the record were considered, the Gourleys presented little credible evidence that the cap was unwise or no longer necessary, while Knolla and the OB/GYN Group presented much more evidence supporting the cap.
Because the record and the dissent’s use of statistics can be used to indicate differing points of view, one is left questioning which view is correct. What is clear is that a decision about the necessity of a damages cap cannot be decided based on a few incomplete sources. Instead, many differing sources must be considered. See, e.g., H.R. Rep. No. 108-32(1) (House Report from Committee on the Judiciary recommending enactment of damages cap and citing to numerous sources of information both in support of and in opposition to bill). The consideration of statistical sources to determine the wisdom of an act is the concern of the Legislature, not an appellate court. Were this court to start second guessing legislative enactments, principles of fairness and due process would require us to consider many sources of statistical information and hear from experts in the field. This court does not have the time or resources to engage in such a process, nor should we. That is not a judicial function. It is a legislative function that was carried out by the Legislature when it enacted Neb. Rev. Stat. § 44-2825 (Reissue 1998). The determination whether it is wise to continue the cap is also a legislative function.
This court’s function is to neutrally review the constitutionality of legislation. It should not act as a second legislative chamber that can overturn legislation that it disagrees with. Although I am not entirely in agreement with the provisions of § 44-2825, this court is limited to reviewing the constitutionality of the act without engaging in a form of judicial legislation. Despite any personal concerns I have about the act, I conclude that it is constitutional.
Justice McCormack’s dissent also suggests that this court’s decision in Prendergast, supra, is not binding or persuasive authority. In Prendergast, three justices determined that portions of the Nebraska Hospital-Medical Liability Act were constitutional. Neb. Const, art. V, § 2, provides:
*960The Supreme Court shall consist of seven judges .... A majority of the judges shall be necessary to constitute a quorum. A majority of the members sitting shall have authority to pronounce a decision except in cases involving the constitutionality of an act of the Legislature. No legislative act shall be held unconstitutional except by the concurrence of five judges.
Thus, three is the constitutionally appropriate number of judges necessary to agree that a legislative act is constitutional. Because three justices in Prendergast v. Nelson, 199 Neb. 97, 256 N.W.2d 657 (1977), held that portions of the act are constitutional, Prendergast is binding precedent. Also, as the majority opinion notes, we have consistently relied on Prendergast for the position that substantial reasons exist for legislative discrimination concerning malpractice actions. See Haman v. Marsh, 237 Neb. 699, 467 N.W.2d 836 (1991).
Moreover, a reading of the majority opinion makes clear that although the majority cited Prendergast, it also decided the issue after a thorough analysis regardless of Prendergast. Based on the authority cited by the majority, I would determine that the cap on damages in § 44-2825 is constitutional even if Prendergast had never been decided.
Next, relying largely on equal protection cases, the dissent would apply to a special legislation analysis a level of scrutiny comparable to the intermediate scrutiny test employed in an equal protection analysis. This is incorrect because, as the majority opinion states, the special legislation test is not a heightened test. Instead, it is simply a different test from that of equal protection. The rule advocated by the dissent introduces principles of equal protection into a special legislation analysis. Under the dissent’s rule, legislation that was subject to a rational basis review under equal protection would always receive heightened scrutiny under a special legislation analysis. The effect would be a back door way of using an equal protection analysis to find legislation that passes muster under equal protection to be unconstitutional. A special legislation analysis has a different focus from an equal protection analysis and should not be used as a second equal protection clause under which everyone gets heightened scrutiny.