Physicians win seats in state legislatures

Medical liability woes in West Virginia and Nevada spurred many physicians into political action.

By Tanya Albert, amednews staff. Dec. 9, 2002.

When the legislatures of two of the states hardest hit by medical liability insurance problems -- West Virginia and Nevada -- go back into session next year, physicians will have a bigger say on tort reform and other health care issues.

West Virginia voters in November elected two physicians to the state House of Delegates. They also voted to put West Virginia State Medical Assn. Executive Director Evan Jenkins in the state Senate.

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Topic: Liability crisis
Region: South
Region: West
Region: States

In Nevada, voters elected two physicians to the State Assembly.

Neither state had a single physician in their legislatures when tort reform was addressed last session.

"It's one thing for physicians to testify before a committee," said Lawrence P. Matheis, the Nevada State Medical Assn.'s executive director. "But now they can give opinions in caucuses that go on behind closed doors where lawmakers try to understand the issues. They can explain the pros and cons of issues from the physician's perspective. On health care issues, no one has more respect than physicians."

2 physicians were elected to the W.Va. House of Delegates and 1 to the state Senate.

Doctors nationwide recently have been more politically active than they've been in years past. Before the West Virginia primaries, eight physicians sought legislative seats. And physicians in several other states ran for office in greater numbers than they have in previous years.

For many politically active doctors, rising medical liability insurance rates or the inability to secure professional liability insurance at all has been a catalyst for action.

Nevada and West Virginia physicians have been particularly hard-hit by the medical liability crunch and were especially motivated by the current liability atmosphere. Both states are on an AMA list of states in the midst of a liability insurance crisis. Voters also made medical liability an issue for candidates in those states.

Taking a stand

The WVSMA has already drafted legislation that will serve as the starting point for tort reform in West Virginia. It proposes lowering the state's $1 million cap on noneconomic damage awards and limiting the fees that lawyers can collect.

"The potential for dealing with the medical liability issue in a substantive way is much greater than it was last year," said general surgeon Dan Foster, MD, who is one of the two West Virginia physicians elected to the House and who serves as physician adviser for utilization management at Charleston Area Medical Center. "Being a physician should help in terms of communicating with the administration and other legislators about the doctor's perspective."

The other physician elected to the West Virginia House was general practitioner Marshall Long, DO, from Princeton. In addition, West Virginia voters unseated six trial lawyers who opposed tort reform as a solution to the medical liability crisis.

2 physicians were elected to the Nevada State Assembly.

"That's a significant development, and the medical community and others were very much a part of it," Senator-elect Jenkins said. "As some of the staunchest opponents of liability reform exit, it will help pave the way for reform."

In Nevada, legislators passed a tort reform measure earlier this year. Matheis said the crisis there energized the community. Four physicians were on the ballot in November.

Voters elected obstetrician-gynecologist R. Garn Mabey, MD, from Las Vegas and family physician Joe Hardy, MD, from Boulder City.

"It shows that when physicians put themselves on the line for political involvement, they can be successful," Matheis said. "We think this is just the beginning."