Insurers Have Kudos For House Med Mal Bill

By Steven Brostoff, Washington Editor

NU Online News Service, Oct. 2, 3:27 p.m. EST, Washington?Insurance companies are praising legislation passed recently by the House that would place strict limits on medical malpractice liability.

The legislation, H.R. 4600, which was approved on Sept. 26 by a 217-203 vote, would cap non-economic damages and punitive damages in medical malpractice awards. It now goes to the Senate where Congress' imminent adjournment and opposition from the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, make its chances of passage doubtful.

The bill would cap non-economic damages at $250,000 and cap punitive damages at $250,000 or two times the amount of compensatory damages, whichever is greater.

In addition, H.R. 4600 would eliminate joint and several liability in medical malpractice cases, meaning that defendants would be liable only for their own proportionate responsibility for any damages.

Finally, the bill would require plaintiffs to bring medical malpractice actions within three years of the cause of the harm, or within one year of the time the plaintiff discovered or should have discovered the harm, whichever is first.

Rep. James C. Greenwood, R-Pa., who sponsored the legislation, said at a press conference that medical malpractice reform is needed since many consumers are starting to lose access to health care.

"I urge the Senate to act quickly to pass this legislation," Rep. Greenwood said. "These reforms are desperately needed to address the crisis and preserve patients' access to health care."

Karen Ignagni, president of the Washington-based American Association of Health Plans, said H.R. 4600 would help reduce health care costs.

"Across the country, there is a clear mandate among physicians, consumers and health plans to fix the medical malpractice system," Ms. Ignagni said.

"Waves of frivolous lawsuits are forcing doctors out of the medical system, contributing to skyrocketing health care costs, and risking the lives of patients," she said.

Continue Reading for Free

Register and gain access to:

  • Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.