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Medical Liability Reforms Proposed in Georgia and South Carolina
Already this year, state legislatures are beginning to grapple with medical liability reform legislation. In Georgia and South Carolina, legislation recently was introduced to institute a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages and to implement expert witness qualifications. The Georgia bill, SB 3 (125K PDF), contains two other important provisions: one permitting physicians to apologize for an unexpected outcome without the apology being used as evidence of guilt in a lawsuit; and the other limiting noneconomic damages in certain actions relating to emergency health care. The South Carolina Bill, S 83 (110K PDF), would require mandatory mediation when a lawsuit is filed, and would permit the parties involved in the suit to agree to participate in binding arbitration.
- $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages
- Expert witness qualifications
- "I'm Sorry" provision; apology not admissible in court
- Noneconomic damages limited in trauma/emergency care situations
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- $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages
- Expert witness qualifications
- Mandatory mediation required
- Binding arbitration permitted
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Ohio Medical Liability Reforms Increase Number of Insurers
Medical liability reforms enacted in 2003 have paid off by increasing the number of medical liability insurers writing policies in Ohio. In early 2004, the Ohio Hospital Association formed the non-profit OHA Insurance Solutions, Inc., and in December 2004, Healthcare Underwriters Group Mutual of Ohio began writing policies. The group, also a non-profit company, plans to control costs with careful underwriting and aggressive defense against nuisance lawsuits.
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Washington State I-330 Medical Liability Reform Initiative Moves Forward
Washington State's medical liability reform initiative, I-330, was certified at the end of last year and heard in the Senate's Health Care Committee in January. No vote was taken, and the committee's chair expressed little interest in taking further action on the initiative. If the legislature refuses to act on the initiative by the end of the 2005 legislative session, residents of Washington State will have a chance to vote on the proposal in November. Highlights of the initiative are a cap on noneconomic damages and a limit on attorney contingency fees in medical malpractice lawsuits.
Politics being what it is, the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association has proposed its own initiative, I-336. Opposed by physicians and other supporters of MICRA medical liability reforms, I-336 would revoke licenses of physicians who have multiple jury verdicts against them, and would require public hearings before insurance companies could increase liability insurance premium rates. It is expected that I-336 will also be on the November ballot.
- Caps noneconomic damages between $350,000 and $1,050,000, depending on the number of individuals and institutional defendants
- Permits periodic payment of future damages
- Implements a sliding scale for attorney contingency fees
- Permits voluntary arbitration agreements between patients and physicians
- Eliminates collateral source rule
- Abolishes joint and several liability to hold defendants liable only for their share of damages
- Implements a three-year statute of limitations on medical liability claims
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- Revokes licenses of doctors who have three jury verdicts against them within a 10–year period for preventable medical injuries
- Bans secret settlements in medical malpractice cases
- Before an insurance company could increase malpractice rates by more than 15 percent, a public hearing would be required and those companies would have to open their financial records to the public
- Establishes a supplemental insurance fund for clinics, hospitals, and health care providers
- Increases the number of members representing the public on the State's Medical Quality Assurance Commission from 4 to 6
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Self-Referral Legislation on the Docket in Texas and Massachusetts
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Self-referral legislation is poised to be a hot topic in several states this year, with bills ready to be filed in both Texas and Massachusetts. Overall, this legislation seeks to prohibit self-referral by physicians who perform imaging services in their offices or have ownership in diagnostic imaging centers. In particular, the Massachusetts bill will likely mimic an amendment that passed the state's House last year, and would: limit individual physicians and physician groups from providing MRI, PET, and linear accelerator equipment outside of a hospital or a hospital affiliate; and, with the exception of radiologists and hospital-based physicians, would prohibit physicians and group practices from referring patients for these imaging services if they hold a direct or indirect ownership or investment interest in a health care entity that provides these services, or if their immediate families hold such interests.
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Tough Fight Looms for Tort Reform Legislation in Virginia
Despite a march on Richmond a year ago by thousands of physicians demanding comprehensive medical liability reforms, legislators have done little in the way of providing relief. A compromise proposal recently developed by a legislative study commission does not contain the reforms advocated by physicians, including a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages, elimination of the collateral source rule, and implementation of an affidavit of merit by a physician expert witness certifying that the standard of care has been breeched. Instead, the reform proposal currently on the table focuses on insurance industry reforms and regulatory oversight of physicians. That proposal has been endorsed by Virginia's governor.
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ACS State Affairs
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Division of Advocacy and Health Policy
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Jon H. Sutton
Manager, State Affairs
Chicago Headquarters
312-202-5358
jsutton@facs.org |
Mindy Baker
State Affairs Associate
Chicago Headquarters
312-202-5363
mbaker@facs.org |
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Revised January 27, 2005
Advocacy and Health Policy
This page and all contents are Copyright © 2003-2005
by the American College of Surgeons, Chicago, IL 60611-3211
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