Rep. Rich Golick named Georgia Watch "Legislator of the Year"

ATLANTA – Georgia Watch board member and bestselling consumer guru Clark Howard presented to Rep. Rich Golick (R-Smyrna) the first annual Georgia Watch “Legislator of the Year” award at the Rotary Club of Vinings Wednesday, May 14.

Chief among several notable efforts in the state House on behalf of consumer protection was Rep. Golick’s co-sponsorship of a successful amendment to the credit freeze bill – House Bill 130 – to reduce the fee cap from $10 to $3.

As a result of Rep. Golick’s outspoken support from the House floor, Georgia consumers can place a freeze on their credit file for $3 or less beginning August 1. For victims of identity theft and senior citizens 65 and older, the freeze will be free.

"I am excited beyond words that we in Georgia now have the best credit freeze law in the United States,” Howard said. “Now Georgians have the best way possible to shut down identity thieves cold.”

Rep. Golick also sponsored House Bill 1344, a pro-consumer bill that, had it passed, would have required pawnbrokers and car title lenders to return to borrowers any surplus funds from the sale of a repossessed car.

Under Georgia law, pawnbrokers and title lenders can repossess a pawned car if a borrower is one day late on a payment. After repossession, borrowers have thirty days from the date of default to repay the loan in full, plus back interest, repossession fees and storage fees.

If a borrower fails to make full payment, current law allows pawnbrokers and title lenders to sell the car and pocket all the proceeds from the sale – even if the car is worth far more than the amount owed by the borrower.

“With HB 1344, we were trying to correct a situation where a consumer loses equity over and beyond what is owed to the lender,” Golick said. “This is about avoiding unjust enrichment and maintaining fundamental fairness in repossession situations.”

“Through his leadership and support of both the credit freeze and car title loan bills, Rep. Golick has demonstrated his dedication to promoting and advancing fair, sound policy that benefits Georgia consumers,” said Georgia Watch Executive Director Allison Wall. “Georgia Watch appreciates and applauds his dogged efforts, and is proud to honor him with our 2008 ‘Legislator of the Year’ award.”

Gov. Perdue signs Georgia’s low-fee credit freeze law

DECATUR – Gov. Sonny Perdue signed House Bill 130 into law Tuesday, May 13, giving Georgia consumers to place a freeze on their credit file for $3 or less. Nationally syndicated consumer advisor and Georgia Watch board member Clark Howard joined Gov. Perdue, bill sponsor Rep. Calvin Hill (R-Canton) and others at the GBI headquarters for the signing ceremony.

Credit freeze is the only effective, proactive tool to stop new account fraud, one of the most damaging forms of identity theft. A freeze allows consumers to bar access to their credit files with the three major credit reporting agencies (CRAs), prohibiting identity thieves from fraudulently opening new accounts or lines of credit in a victim’s name.

HB 130 caps the fees that CRAs can charge to place a credit freeze at $3. For victims of identity theft and senior citizens 65 and older, the freeze will be free. Each temporary lift of a freeze to allow approved access to a credit file would also cost $3, and would be available electronically within 15 minutes of request, keeping on-the-spot credit an option for shoppers.

Fulton County Superior Court judge strikes down a portion of tort reform:Some feel stage now set for Georgia Supreme Court review of state tort law

ATLANTA – In a decision made late April, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Marvin S. Arrington Sr. ruled unconstitutional the state's $350,000 limit on pain and suffering damages in medical malpractice cases. According to the Fulton County Daily Report, the judge signed an order April 28 holding that the limits, approved by the General Assembly and Gov. Sonny Perdue in 2005, rendering a jury's decision on pain and suffering damages useless.

The judge wrote: "The disabled manager of a hedge fund, a corporate CEO, an entertainer or such other person whose income is in the tens of millions of dollars has a claim under Georgia law that would dwarf the amount awarded in any case for pain and suffering."

Some hail the decision as a step towards fairness in Georgia's tort reform law. Atlanta Journal-Constitution opinion writer Maureen Downey wrote on May 6 the move was a "victory for consumers." Downey also cited another failing of the current law, which requires a patient prove a higher standard of negligence in order to receive compensation for injuries sustained while receiving care. Downey writes: "Why should a person who loses a limb through the negligence of a truck driver, for example, merit more in damages than a person disabled because of the negligence of a doctor? If appealed, as seems likely, Arrington's decision will set the stage for a Georgia Supreme Court showdown over tort reform. The court ought to throw the law out."

A Crisis of Affordable Health Care at Northside Hospital: Report reveals how hospital management affects health care access, cost

ATLANTA – Georgia Watch recently released a report documenting the financial performance of one of metro Atlanta’s largest nonprofit hospitals, Northside Hospital. “A Crisis of Affordable Health Care: Northside Hospital” describes how the tax-exempt nonprofit hospital rewards executives with million-dollar compensation packages, treats few indigent and charity care patients, and charges uninsured patients significantly higher costs for services than it charges insurance companies and government-sponsored insurance programs. Approximately one in every ten Northside Hospital patients is billed inflated charges.

Northside Hospital also invests heavily outside Fulton County, from which they have received taxpayer support for more than 15 years. Of a total $423.4 million in approved and proposed capital expenditures, over 66 percent, or $285 million, has been spent or will be spent on expansions at a Northside facility in Forsyth County.

In 2005 filings with the federal government, Northside Hospital reported:

Only 25 percent of Northside Hospital’s patients came from Fulton County, the lowest number of in-county patients served by any Fulton tax-exempt nonprofit hospital.
A 297 percent overall price mark-up – from approximately $439,309,863 in costs to $1,304,700,247 in patient charges.
A 3,060 percent mark-up in anesthesiology services – from $463,061 in total costs to $14,167,361 in patient charges.
A total 3.25 percent of annual adjusted gross revenue dedicated to indigent and charity care – compared to 10.98 percent provided by the other Fulton County Hospital Authority facility, Grady Memorial Hospital.

To read the report, click here.

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