Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2011
This Week's News
AMA to House committee: Irrational medical liability system fails patients, physicians
HEALTH Act would help resolve medical liability crisis, protect access to care
AMA applauds president's acknowledgement of liability reform, improvements to the ACA
Nation gets mixed grades on tobacco cessation, control efforts
New AMA resource helps physicians put prevention into practice
This Week's News
HEALTH Act would help resolve medical liability crisis, protect access to care
The AMA and 100 medical and physician organizations expressed their strong support for the Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2011 in a Jan. 25 letter. The HEALTH Act is bipartisan legislation that includes reforms intended to repair the nation's broken medical liability system, reduce the growth of health care costs and preserve patients' access to care.
The organizations sent the letter of support to the HEALTH Act's sponsors—Reps. Phil Gingrey, MD, R-Ga.; David Scott, D-Ga.; and Lamar Smith, R-Texas, who introduced the bill Jan. 24.
"The proven reforms contained in the HEALTH Act would help reduce costs, while ensuring that patients who have been injured due to negligence receive just compensation," the letter states. "This bill provides the right balance of reforms by promoting speedier resolutions to disputes, maintaining access to courts, maximizing patient recovery of damage awards with unlimited compensation for economic damages while limiting noneconomic damages to a quarter million dollars."
Introduction of the HEALTH Act comes on the heels of Jan. 20 testimony by AMA Board of Trustees Chair Ardis Dee Hoven, MD, to the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. During her comments, Dr. Hoven shared results from a recent AMA report that shows the nation's medical liability system has become costly and unfair for patients and physicians, with an average of 95 medical liability claims filed for every 100 physicians. Watch video of Dr. Hoven's testimony.
"The HEALTH Act would put in place proven reforms, similar to those already working in states like California and Texas," Dr. Hoven said. "These reforms keep physicians' liability premiums stable and ensure that patients—not lawyers—receive more of the awards."
