On Jan. 25, 2011, the American Medical Association (AMA), along with 100 other medical and physician organizations, including the Pennsylvania Medical Society (PAMED), sent a
letter to the sponsors of H.R. 5, the Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2011, in support of the proposed legislation.
This bi-partisan bill was introduced by Representatives Phil Gingrey, MD (R-GA), David Scott (D-GA), and Lamar Smith (R-TX) and includes reforms intended to repair the flawed medical liability system, reduce the increase of health care costs, and safeguard patients’ access to medical care.
The HEALTH Act would put in place proven medical liability reforms like those already working in other states, including California and Texas. Statistics have shown that these reforms are effective in decreasing health care costs. While the total of medical liability premiums in the rest of the U.S. increased by 945 percent between 1976 and 2009, the increase in premiums in California, where these reforms were already in place, was only 261 percent.
The significant medical liability reforms included in this bill are:
- Reducing the statute of limitations from two years to one year.
- Reducing the statute of repose from seven years to three years.
- Placing a $250,000 cap on non-economic damages (pain and suffering). Currently, there is no cap on non-economic damages in Pennsylvania.
- Repealing joint and several liability. Currently, complete joint and several liability exists in Pennsylvania.
- Capping plaintiffs’ attorney fees. Reasonable limits on plaintiffs’ attorney fees would ensure that plaintiffs receive a fair percentage of any award.
- Passing a collateral source rule. This would prevent plaintiffs from recovering economic damages that have already been paid by a third party. Pennsylvania has had this reform in place since 2002.
- Capping punitive damages. Punitive damages are defined as malicious intent to injure or deliberate failure to avoid unnecessary injury. A somewhat different form of this has been in place in Pennsylvania since 1996.
- Allowing periodic payment of future damages rather than payment as a lump sum. Pennsylvania has had this reform in place since 2002, and also reduces future lost wages to present work.
PAMED has been a long-time advocate for medical liability reforms, and has been successful in getting a number of reforms passed in Pennsylvania. For example, the reforms included in
Act 13 (signed into law March 20, 2002) helped create a significantly improved climate for physicians and hospitals to provide quality medical care.