Senators Dismiss Potential ‘No-Liability’ Compromise on Patients’ Rights

While House members have "floated" a "potential compromise" on a patients' bill of rights that would not address the "contentious" question of health plan liability, senators "on both sides of the fight" said they would not accept such a measure, CongressDaily/A.M. reports. The thinking behind a "no-liability" bill is that it would "sidestep" the fight over whether patients should be allowed to sue their health plan and what cap on damages, if any, should accompany this right. According to this theory, lawmakers seeking a right to sue "could bank on recent federal court decisions" that have slowly chiseled the lawsuit "shield" that "keeps current disputes in federal court and does not allow any recovery of damages." On the other side, those who do not back a right to sue "theoretically could be satisfied with no language whatsoever." But both Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and John Edwards (D-N.C.) -- co-sponsors of the Kennedy-McCain-Edwards "Bipartisan Patient Protection Act of 2001" (S. 283), which would allow patients to sue in both federal and state courts -- said a no-liability bill is "unacceptable." McCain said, "One of the major concerns patients have is the ability to get redress for wrongs committed by health plans. I'm not sure you can avoid that issue." Edwards added that a law without a "set policy" on lawsuits would lead to "a hodgepodge of conflicting decisions [with] no reliability and no predictability." Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), co-author of a competing patients' rights bill that would restrict lawsuits to federal court, said a "no-liability" measure "is unlikely to be acceptable." Meanwhile, Edwards said that the coalition backing his bill was "running out of patience" with the White House. "If something's not resolved soon, we're going to look for a vehicle to attach (our bill) to," he said (Rovner, CongressDaily/A.M., 4/26). To view a Healthcast of the hearing, click here. For additional information regarding patients' rights, including links to ads, press releases, reports, current legislation and other resources, click here.