Bush Calls For Med Liability Reform

Washington Bureau

President Bush, speaking to an agent gathering last week, calledon the Senate to pass a bill revising the framework for medicalinjury litigation that would provide a national solution to junklawsuits.

The president spoke, along with Senate Majority Whip MitchMcConnell, R-Ky., at the National Legislative Conference of theIndependent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America.

“When I first got to Washington, I thought medical liabilityreform would best be handled at the state level until I realizedwhat the cost of the defensive practice of medicine, the cost ofsettling lawsuits, and the rising costs of premiums do to thefederal budget,” President Bush said.

We pay for Medicare. We pay for Medicaid. We pay for veterans'health benefits. All of those costs are affected by junk lawsuits,he said.

Medical liability reform is a national problem that requires anational solution, and now is the time for the United States Senateto listen to doctors and patients and concerned citizensand not thepowerful trial lawyers lobbyand get me a medical liabilitybill.”

Sen. McConnell put the blame for the lack of movement on tortreform at the feet of the trial bar and Senate Democrats.

“We have had an extraordinarily difficult time reaching the60-vote threshold for any type of litigation reform,” he said.

With the passage of the class action reform bill, though, hesaid the majority is ready to try again to reform the medicalliability system.

He noted, however, that Senate Democrats had successfully killedprior measures that took a broad-based approach, as well as thosethat were more narrowly focused on obstetrics or emergency rooms.“We need Democratswilling to stand up to the plaintiffs' bar,” hesaid. “Everything the plaintiffs' bar wants, it is not necessary togive them.”

Reproduced from National Underwriter Edition, April 15, 2005.Copyright 2005 by The National Underwriter Company in the serialpublication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as anindependent work may be held by the author.