News in brief - March 20, 2006

Liability reform package becomes law in Washington state - Lawmakers try to reopen drug benefit - Physician groups blast Medicare imaging cuts

Liability reform package becomes law in Washington state

Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire on March 7 signed a medical liability tort reform package that she brokered between physicians and trial lawyers. Four years in the making, the compromise measure establishes an apology statute that prevents doctors' statements from being used as evidence against them in court. It also requires lawyers to file a certificate of merit in medical liability cases.

Additional reforms include a $1 million cap on noneconomic damages if the case goes to arbitration instead of trial.

The bill received sweeping support when it cleared both the Senate and the House in February. The Washington State Medical Assn. supported the changes, which it helped draft. The law also includes other insurance and patient-safety provisions.

Originally doctors sought a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages, as well as reforms to joint and several liability laws. WSMA President Peter Dunbar, MD, credited the governor's efforts. "But this is not significant tort reform," he said. "This is only a first step in ongoing discussions about access to care."

Lawmakers try to reopen drug benefit

Senate Democrats have introduced legislation that would allow beneficiaries to bypass private drug plans and get their medication coverage directly from the Medicare program. The bill also aims to reduce costs for seniors by eliminating coverage gaps and allowing the government to negotiate drug prices.

"Seniors across the country have been denied the medicines they need or forced to pay excessive costs to fill their prescriptions. It's time to fix these failures," said Sen. Edward Kennedy (D, Mass.), one of the bill's sponsors.

The Democrats said many beneficiaries would jump at the chance to receive their drugs from Medicare itself, rather than from the private insurers who are administering the benefit. Republican lawmakers dismissed the legislation as part of a campaign of scare tactics designed to convince seniors not to enroll.

Physician groups blast Medicare imaging cuts

A group of organizations representing more than 75,000 physicians called on Congress to repeal recently approved Medicare cuts to medical imaging services that will take effect in 2007.

The groups, including the American College of Radiology, the National Coalition for Quality Diagnostic Imaging Services and U.S. Oncology, wrote a letter to congressional leaders warning that the cuts would lead to access problems for patients. Under the reduction plan, Medicare will pay physicians the outpatient hospital rate for most types of imaging services when that rate is lower than what doctors would receive under their fee schedule.

The organizations said lawmakers, who inserted the language during final negotiations on a deficit reduction package passed last month, did not spend enough time considering the possible adverse effects of this move.

"We are particularly concerned that these cuts were included without any public deliberation by either body of the Congress," the letter states. "There has been no analysis of the potential impact of this change in payment policy, and we fear that these cuts will have numerous unintended consequences, including potentially diminishing access to imaging services outside the hospital setting."