News in brief - Oct. 11, 2004

Calif. medical staff governance bill signed into law - Doctors push for Washington state tort reform initiative - Court orders changes to Nevada liability reform ballot question - High-risk pool funding gets Senate panel's nod - Rise in health insurance premiums outstrips earnings

Calif. medical staff governance bill signed into law

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in late September signed a bill that strengthens hospital staff self-governance rights and paves the way for medical staffs to resolve future disputes in court. "This law ensures that the relationship between a hospital and its medical staff remains a horizontal and balanced one and promotes having medical staffs and hospitals as partners in high-quality patient care, rather than adversaries," said California Medical Assn. CEO Jack Lewin, MD.

The bill was sparked by a conflict between the hospital board and medical staff at Community Memorial Hospital of San Buenaventura in Ventura, Calif., that led doctors to sue the hospital. The dispute was settled in August.

Doctors push for Washington state tort reform initiative

The American Medical Association and Washington State Medical Assn. in late September urged voters to back an initiative that would bring about a tort reform vote no later than fall 2005.

Doctors for Sensible Lawsuit Reform, a campaign committee of the WSMA, needs to collect nearly 200,000 signatures by year's end to force the state Legislature to address a tort reform proposal. The measure would cap noneconomic damages that an individual physician would be responsible for at $350,000. The patient could receive up to another $700,000 from a hospital or other health care facility.

If the signatures are collected, the Legislature will be required to vote on the proposal. If the reforms don't pass, it would go before the voters in November 2005.

If lawmakers amended the proposal, the amended version and the original version would go to voters.

Court orders changes to Nevada liability reform ballot question

Pre-election challenges continue for a ballot initiative in Nevada that aims to put a strict $350,000 cap on noneconomic damages awarded in medical malpractice cases.

The Nevada Supreme Court Sept. 18 ordered the state to change the wording in Keep Our Doctors In Nevada's ballot initiative, a measure commonly referred to as Question 3. The court said the question needs to better spell out the impact the ballot measure would have. For example, the court said there needs to be wording that explains that Nevada law already has a $350,000 noneconomic damages cap except in cases of gross negligence and exceptional circumstances shown through clear and convincing evidence. The ballot language also should make clear that the initiative would eliminate those exceptions.

The court did not, however, remove Question 3 from the ballot. After the ruling, trial lawyers filed a new lawsuit asking the court to strike the question altogether.

High-risk pool funding gets Senate panel's nod

Legislation that would extend the availability of funding to encourage states to create high-risk health insurance pools was recently approved by the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. The pools serve people with chronic or serious illnesses who often have difficulty obtaining coverage through the private marketplace.

The subsidized pools are thought to relieve spending pressures on the rest of the market, allowing private insurers to offer less-costly plans to individuals with few health problems. The legislation, which still would have to be passed by the House and Senate to become law, would free up $15 million in seed grant money that is set to expire and appropriate another $75 million to offset the administrative costs of existing state pools.

Rise in health insurance premiums outstrips earnings

The average health insurance premium has risen three times faster than earnings, according to a new report.

"Working families were squeezed by runaway health care costs over the past four years," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, which released the report. "As a result, workers are paying much more in premiums but are receiving less health coverage; wages are being depressed; and millions of people have lost health coverage entirely."

The report showed that about 85.2 million Americans were uninsured at some point over the past two years.