The House of Representatives passed a bill addressing medical liability, capping the non-economic damages for medical malpractice suits at $250,000, according to a Medscape report.
The American Medical Association supports the bill, which President David O. Barbe, MD, said could rein in defensive medicine and slow the growing healthcare costs. "By redirecting healthcare spending from defensive medicine, additional dollars can go to patient care, safety and quality improvements, and to health information technology systems that would help improve care and outcomes," said Dr. Barbe.
Here are five key notes:
1. In addition to introducing a cap for medical malpractice suits, the bill also includes other tort reforms that would impose sliding-scale limits on plaintiff attorney contingency fees; exempt clinicians ordering drugs or medical devices from class-action and product liability suits; enact a Fair Share rule to replace the joint-and-several liability.
2. The bill would encourage speedy claim resolutions, limiting malpractice suits to three years after the wrongful act or one year after the plaintiff discovers the wrongful act.
3. Surgeons would be able to pay damages in installments when the damages are more than $50,000.
4. The House members voted mostly along party lines, passing the bill with a Republican majority. However, the bill could face a Democrat filibuster in the Senate.
5. The Congressional Budget Office projects the bill would lower medical malpractice insurance premiums and decrease unnecessary defensive medicine. The bill could decrease national health spending 0.4 percent, saving $50 billion in 10 years.
The North American Spine Society also advocates for the legislation and will shift efforts to the U.S. Senate, where similar legislation is expected to be introduced in the coming weeks.
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