Americans favor reasonable limits on non-economic damages in medical liability cases, according to a survey sponsored by a medical and insurer advocacy group.
According to a poll released by the Washington-based Health Coalition on Liability and Access, 73 percent said they want Congress to support such reform legislation, while 19 percent opposed such action.
For the past few years, the House of Representatives has approved medical malpractice reform legislation with caps of $250,000. But the measure has failed to pass in the Senate.
HCLA Chairman Christian Shalgian noted that the survey found nearly eight in 10 Americans believe that quality health care is compromised by medical liability costs that force doctors to abandon medicine.
"And nearly seven in every 10 Americans say that medical malpractice lawsuits are one of the main reasons for the rise in health care costs," Mr. Shalgian said.
The HCLA is a national advocacy organization comprised of doctors, hospitals and health care liability insurers. The poll of 1,001 Americans was conducted in March 2005 for the Health Coalition on Liability and Access by Harris Interactive.
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