Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Rounds Up Coverage of State Developments on Malpractice

The followng summarizes the developments in five states regarding medical malpractice issues:

• Florida: Gov. Jeb Bush (R) on May 29 called state lawmakers to return to the Legislature on June 16 for a four-day special session to address the increased cost of malpractice insurance in the state and promised to "call them back, again and again" until they resolve the issue, the Miami Herald reports (Clark/Dorschner, Miami Herald, 5/30). Bush also unveiled a 52-page reform bill, which includes a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages in malpractice lawsuits and would require malpractice insurers to reduce premiums by 20% by Oct. 1 (Cook Lauer, Tallahassee Democrat, 5/30). The bill is similar to legislation approved by the state House and defeated by the state Senate last month (Groeller, Orlando Sentinel, 5/30). Opponents maintain that the bill Bush proposed has loopholes and might not lead to reduced malpractice insurance premium rates. The bill would require malpractice insurers to reduce premium rates by 20% on average, by more than 20% for physicians in low-risk specialties and smaller rate reductions for those in high-risk specialties. A provision in the bill also would allow malpractice insurers to bypass the rate reductions requirement in cases where it would "prevent them from making a profit," the AP/Tallahassee Democrat reports (Royse, AP/Tallahassee Democrat, 6/2). The bill also includes provisions that would require hospitals and physicians to inform patients about medical errors, order state regulators to determine which information that consumers should have to help them select physicians and hospitals and increase the authority of the Florida Board of Medicine to discipline physicians. Opponents say that the provisions are "vague and virtually unenforceable," the Sentinel reports (Orlando Sentinel, 5/30). Meanwhile, state Rep. Connie Mack (R) last week proposed a ballot measure that would amend the state constitution to cap the amount that plaintiffs attorneys could receive in malpractice lawsuits. Under the measure, plaintiffs attorneys could receive as much as 30% of the first $250,000 that a plaintiff receives in a malpractice lawsuit; the plaintiff would receive 100% of the remainder of the damages that exceed $250,000. Mack has formed the Victim's Compensation Coalition, a group that hops to place the measure on the ballot in November 2004 (Royse, AP/Tallahassee Democrat, 5/29).
  
• New Hampshire: The state House Judiciary Committee late last month voted 18-1 to approve a bill (SB 119) that would prevent malpractice lawsuits filed based on the "loss of opportunity" for an improved life, the Nashua Telegraph reports. The bill would reverse a 2001 state Supreme Court decision that expanded the rights of plaintiffs to sue for damages but would not prohibit lawsuit against physicians for negligence that "proximately caused the ultimate harm." The state Senate passed a similar bill last month (Landrigan, Nashua Telegraph, 5/22).
  
• New Jersey: Gov. Jim McGreevey (D) on May 29 said that he would reject legislation approved by the state Senate in March that would cap noneconomic damages in malpractice lawsuits and proposed that the state establish a direct cash subsidy for physicians "hit hardest by insurance increases," the Bergen Record reports (Layton, Bergen Record, 5/30). The proposal, which is similar to a bill introduced in the state Assembly by Majority Leader Joseph Roberts (D), would establish a state fund of $150 million over the next five years that could cover as much as half of malpractice insurance premium increases for physicians in high-risk specialties. However, state Senate Co-President John Bennett (R) said the state Senate would not approve the proposal. The state Senate voted 32-5 in March to cap noneconomic damages at $300,000 in malpractice lawsuits and to allow plaintiffs to collect as much as $700,000 more from a state fund (Schwaneberg, Newark Star-Ledger, 5/30). In related news, the Senate on May 29 voted 37-0 to approve revisions recommended by McGreevey to a bill that would provide the state Division of Consumer Affairs more authority over an online directory of physicians. The directory will include information on the medical schools that physicians attended, on the number of years that they have practiced and on disciplinary actions or malpractice verdicts against them in the past five years. The bill moved to the Assembly for consideration (Newark Star-Ledger, 5/30). Meanwhile, the state Assembly health and insurance committees late last month announced they will seek subpoenas to force insurers in the state to submit data related to increased malpractice insurance premiums (Schwaneberg, Newark Star-Ledger, 5/24). In other malpractice insurance news, state regulators will require Princeton Insurance, the state's largest malpractice insurer, to develop a proposal to "fix its financial problems," the Newark Star-Ledger reports (Ress, Newark Star-Ledger, 5/29).
  
• Nevada: The Nevada Senate and Assembly last week approved a bill (AB 320) that would protect physicians when malpractice insurers decide to leave the market, the Nevada Appeal reports (Dornan, Nevada Appeal, 5/28). The legislation would require malpractice insurers that decide to leave the market to inform the state 120 days before they withdraw (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 4/25). In addition, the state insurance commissioner could require an additional 60 days in cases where affected physicians would not have access to other malpractice coverage. The bill moves to the governor for consideration (Nevada Appeal, 5/28). Meanwhile, the state Senate Finance Committee removed a provision in a separate bill (SB 250) that would have provided physicians with subsidies of as much as $30,000 to help cover the cost of malpractice insurance premiums. The bill would have allocated $3 million for the subsidies (Ryan, Las Vegas Sun, 5/28).
  
• Texas: The Texas House and Senate on June 1 approved a compromise bill (HB 4) that would place a $750,000 cap on noneconomic damages in malpractice lawsuits, the Dallas Morning News reports. The legislation -- which passed the state House by a 110-34 vote and the state Senate by a 28-3 vote -- also would place a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages against individual providers, a $250,000 cap on damages against individual hospitals and a $500,000 cap on damages against two or more hospitals. In cases with multiple defendants, the bill would place a $750,000 cap on noneconomic damages (Maxon, Dallas Morning News, 6/2). Lawmakers passed the compromise bill after the state House passed a bill that would have placed a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages and the state Senate passed a different version of the legislation that would have placed a $750,000 cap on such damages. State House and Senate leaders had "been in a standoff for several days," and Gov. Rick Perry (R) had said that he would call a special legislative session without a compromise, the Houston Chronicle reports (Villafranca/Elliot, Houston Chronicle, 5/30). Perry will likely sign the compromise bill; many provisions in the legislation would take effect Sept. 1 (Dallas Morning News, 6/2).