The House of Representatives has passed a bill that would cap damages in medical malpractice cases and impose a tighter time frame for legal challenges against physicians.
The House passed the Protecting Access to Care Act (H.R. 1215) on June 28 by a 218-210 vote. The bill, modeled after California’s Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA), would limit noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases to $250,000, restrict contingency fees charged by attorneys, and enforce a 3-year statute of limitations for liability lawsuits from the date of alleged injury. The legislation also includes a fair share rule in which defendants are liable only for the damages in direct proportion to their percentage of responsibility.
The American College of Physicians (ACP) praised the House for passing the bill, saying the time is ripe to develop and pass common-sense liability reforms.
“The American College of Physicians applauds the House of Representatives for its passage of a multifaceted approach to medical-liability reform,” Jack Ende, MD, ACP president, said in a statement. “ACP believes that any solution to improve the medical liability system in the U.S. should include a multifaceted approach, because no single program or law by itself is likely to achieve the goals of improving patient safety, ensuring fair compensation to patients, strengthening rather than undermining the patient-physician relationship, and reducing the economic costs associated with the current system.”
The American Association for Justice, a lobbying organization for plaintiffs’ attorneys, sent a letter to the House prior to the bill’s passage urging legislators to oppose the bill. More than 75 organizations signed the letter.
“Even if H.R. 1215 applied only to doctors and hospitals, recent studies clearly establish that its provisions would lead to more deaths and injuries, and increased health care costs due to a ‘broad relaxation of care,’ ” the letter stated. “... The latest statistics show that medical errors, most of which are preventable, are the third leading cause of death in America. This intolerable situation is perhaps all the more shocking because we already know about how to fix much of this problem. Congress should focus on improving patient safety and reducing deaths and injuries, not insulating negligent providers from accountability, harming patients, and saddling taxpayers with the cost.”
The legislation would apply to any patient who receives medical care provided via a federal program, such as Medicare or Medicaid, or via a subsidy or tax benefit, such as coverage purchased under the Affordable Care Act or a replacement. Medical care paid for via employer health plans also would fall under the legislation’s umbrella since insurance premiums receive federal tax exemptions. The bill would not preempt state medical malpractice laws that impose damage caps, whether higher or lower than $250,000, nor would the legislation affect the availability of economic damages, according to bill language.
As part of the H.R. 1215, courts could limit how much attorneys receive from a patient’s ultimate award. Specifically, courts would have the power to restrict payments from a plaintiff’s damage recovery to an attorney who claims a financial stake in the outcome by virtue of a contingent fee.
PIAA, a trade association representing medical liability insurers, said the House passage of the bill is a major victory for tort reform advocates. The bill is the first comprehensive medical liability reform legislation to be passed by either chamber of Congress in more than 5 years, according to PIAA.
Mike Stinson
H.R. 1215 now moves on to the Senate.
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