by Holly Hayes
After voting to repeal national health reform law on January 19th, House Republicans introduced medical liability reform legislation that would cap damage awards. The Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Health Care (HEALTH) Act of 2011 “would limit noneconomic damages to $250,000, and punitive damages to the greater of $250,000 or twice the amount of economic damages. It would not preempt state laws that establish higher or lower damage limits.” Read more here.
Bill sponsor, Rep. Phil Gingrey, MD (R, Ga.), an obstetrician-gynecologist, said the legislation would reduce defensive medicine and save billions of taxpayer dollars. American Medical News provided additional details about the legislation:
The HEALTH Act also would set a statute of limitations on filing health care lawsuits of one year after a patient discovers — or should have discovered — an injury, or three years after the injury, whichever occurs first. The bill is modeled on liability reforms that have been on the books in California since 1975. The House has adopted previous versions of the measure numerous times during the past decade, but the Senate has never followed suit.
The American Medical Association and 100 other medical organizations support the bill, according to a Jan. 25 joint letter to Dr. Gingrey. AMA Board of Trustees Chair Ardis Dee Hoven, MD, said total medical liability premiums in the U.S. grew by nearly 950% between 1976 and 2009, but premiums in California grew by just 261%. “Every dollar that goes toward medical liability costs is a dollar that does not go to patients who need care.”
But the president of a national organization representing trial lawyers said the bill is “beyond extreme” because of the scope of its damage caps. “By removing legal accountability, attention to safety will go down and more people will suffer injuries and death from negligent care,” said American Assn. for Justice President C. Gibson Vance.
Let us hear your comments on the HEALTH Act medical liability legislation.
Technorati Tags: Mediation, Medical Liability Reform
Holly Hayes is a mediator at Karl Bayer, Dispute Resolution Expert where she focuses on mediation of health care disputes. Holly holds a B.A. from Southern Methodist University and a Masters in Health Administration from Duke University. She can be reached at holly@karlbayer.com.
