Business groups to keep pushing malpractice reform
May 16, 2006 Washington Bureau
Legislation to cap non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases failed to clear a procedural hurdle in the Senate, but business groups promised to keep fighting for the bill.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce contends high malpractice insurance premiums contribute to the health care affordability crisis. Plus, doctors are "fleeing plaintiff-friendly jurisdictions," says Tom Donohue, the chamber's president and CEO.
"It's irresponsible for the Senate to reject medical malpractice liability reforms," he says.
Donohue says the chamber will "redouble its efforts" for reform. The bill has passed the House several times.
The legislation would limit non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases at $250,000 per defendant, up to a maximum of $750,000. The bill needed 60 votes on a motion to move to a floor vote but received only 48.
Dr. Cecil Wilson, an American Medical Association board member from Winter Park, Fla., says senators who opposed the bill "voted to prolong the nation's medical liability crisis."
But Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada accused Republicans of engaging in a "political stunt" so they could "go back to their special interest friends and say 'look what we have tried to do to help.'
"Not a single provision in this legislation will provide health insurance to the uninsured, lower health care costs or make patients safer," Reid says.
Opponents contend that high medical malpractice rates are due more to insurance companies recouping investment losses than excessive malpractice verdicts. They say the damage caps are unfair to patients who suffer life-changing injuries due to malpractice and homemakers who don't qualify for economic damages.