House Passes Bill Capping Medical Malpractice Awards

The House on Sept. 26 by a 217-203 margin approved a bill (HR 4600) that would limit damage awards in medical malpractice cases, Reuters/Washington Post reports (Reuters/Washington Post, 9/27). The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jim Greenwood (R-Pa.), would cap at $250,000 the amount of noneconomic damages, such as compensation for pain and suffering, patients could be awarded in medical malpractice suits. Punitive damages would be limited to $250,000 or twice economic damages, whichever is greater. Economic damages, such as medical expenses or lost income, would remain uncapped. In addition, lawyers' fees would be limited by a sliding scale (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 9/19). Greenwood said, "We have a crisis in this country now. We are very close to Americans dying because they can't get emergency care, and the quality of our health care system [is] deteriorating across the board" (AP/USA Today, 9/26). But some Democrats who opposed the bill said that it could "simply be a cash cow for insurers" (Altimari, Hartford Courant , 9/27). Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said the message of the bill is: "Business are never at fault, patients are greedy, juries are misguided" (Reuters/Washington Post, 9/27). Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio) added, "People aren't going to get any better health care because of this bill" (AP/USA Today, 9/26). Still, the American Medical Association, along with business groups, insurers and the Bush administration, support the measure. Donald Palmisano, president-elect of the AMA, said, "This is the moment of truth. Without reforms, patients, trauma centers, maternity wards and physicians are all at the mercy of an out-of-control liability system" (Hartford Courant, 9/27). The bill is "unlikely" to pass the Senate, which already rejected similar legislation, AP/USA Today reports (AP/USA Today, 9/26).