On July 27, the House approved, 230-194, a bill (H.R. 5) that would limit noneconomic medical malpractice awards and attorneys’ fees.
Sponsored by Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA), the Help Efficient, Accessible, Low Cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act would cap punitive damages at twice the economic damages, or at $250,000, whichever is greater. Under the measure, punitive damages could not be awarded in cases that did not grant economic awards, and courts would be required to find “a substantial probability” that the plaintiff could win punitive damages before a request for such damages could be filed.
During consideration of the bill, Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) offered a motion to recommit that would have substituted the text of the Medical Malpractice and Insurance Reform Act (H.R. 3359) for H.R. 5. The substitute would have limited frivolous malpractice lawsuits by instating a three-year statute of limitations on such lawsuits, requiring an attorney and health care specialist to submit an affidavit that the claim is warranted before action can be brought to court, and imposing sanctions for frivolous actions and pleadings. The substitute also would have established an independent Advisory Commission on Medical Malpractice Insurance to evaluate dramatic increases in insurance premiums and submit proposals for reform. The motion was defeated, 193-234.
Arguing that the bill “is about preserving access to health care in our local communities,” Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) stated, “Americans know that our health care costs are soaring. They also know that trial lawyers many times view our hospitals and our health care providers as a limitless ATM. That is the reason I cosponsored this legislation. My constituents have had enough. They have grown ill and fatigued with the stories that are out there, with seeing their local doctors run out of town, with seeing practices close up, and with knowing that they have access to less and less available health care. We know that only one in seven ob-gyns now deliver babies for fear of being sued, and the national medical liability rate has risen almost 500 percent since 1976. This is an issue that affects our families. It affects women. It affects children. It affects our rural communities. This bill is a way to assist in preserving health care for our local communities.”
Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV) said that the HEALTH Act “will not do what the Republican side of the aisle says it will. And if the Republican leadership really wanted to provide relief for the doctors, we would have legislation on the floor that the bipartisan Congress could vote on and support and pass and put before the President for signature.” She added, “This bill contains and limits claims against negligent hospitals, drug companies, medical device manufacturers, nursing homes, HMOs, and insurance companies. This bill is not for doctors. This bill is a gift to the insurance companies. There is no provision, there is not one line [or] sentence in a 26-page bill, that would ensure that the savings that were realized by the insurance companies would be passed on to the doctors. The doctors will continue to suffer while the insurance companies will get happier and richer.”
The House approved identical bills in 2004 and 2003, but the Senate did not complete action on the measures before the end of the 108th Congress (see The Source, 5/14/04 and 3/14/03).
