A HEALTH CARE REFORM THAT'S GOOD FOR DOCTORS AND PATIENTS
Just imagine - someone you love is in need of critical medical care. When they get to the hospital, the specialist they need isn't there. The doctor has been forced to cut back on his or her services because they can't afford astronomical insurance rates. Unfortunately, this nightmarish scenario has been playing out in states like Florida, Mississippi, and West Virginia.
Thankfully, California has not had such a problem because our state acted in the 1970s to limit non-economic damages in malpractice lawsuits. Adopting the successful model of California's Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) program, the House of Representatives recently voted to extend the same caps nationwide. The Help, Efficient, Affordable, Low-Cost Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2003 was approved with bipartisan support. The President has made this issue one of his top domestic priorities and would like to sign a bill in the near future.
The reason President Bush has made medical malpractice liability reform such a high priority is because the skyrocketing costs of malpractice insurance have a ripple effect throughout the health care system and even our economy. When doctors can't afford to insure themselves, they can't provide critical care. Doctors are also forced to practice what's referred to as "defensive medicine", ordering extra tests and using procedures that limit risk to them, not the patient. When insurance companies have to pay exorbitant non-economic damages, employers and consumers pay the price through climbing insurance premiums.
The HEALTH Act passed by the House provides common sense reforms to an urgent health care problem. It limits unquantifiable non-economic damages (pain and suffering) to $250,000 but does NOT cap punitive damages. It encourages speedy resolution of claims, fair accountability for those involved in a claim, and empowers courts to maximize patients' awards so that lawyers don't receive a disproportionate share of the patient's economic recovery.
Without a doubt, a patient injured by a doctor's malpractice deserves to be compensated for their injuries plus any economic damages. But unless we are able to stop the runaway train that malpractice insurance has become, we'll all be forced to pay the price in dollars as well as the quality of our health care. The recent House vote is an important step toward solving this critical problem.
