Maryland Lawmakers Vote To Override Ehrlich Veto on Malpractice Legislation
The Maryland General Assembly on Tuesday voted to override a veto of a medical malpractice bill by Gov. Robert Ehrlich (R), the Washington Times reports. The state Senate voted 31-15 to override the veto, and the state House voted 85-50 to override (Redding, Washington Times, 1/12). The malpractice bill, which the state General Assembly approved on Dec. 30 and Ehrlich vetoed on Monday, would remove a tax exemption for HMOs, a move that would require the organizations to pay the same 2% premium tax as other insurers. Under the legislation, the state would use the additional revenue to help subsidize the cost of malpractice insurance premium rates and increase Medicaid payments to specialists, who reportedly face the lowest health insurance payments and highest malpractice insurance premiums. Among other provisions, the bill also would cap malpractice insurance premium rate increases for physicians at 5% in 2005, cap noneconomic damages at $650,000 in most malpractice lawsuits, cap noneconomic damages at $812,500 in cases that involve patient deaths implement stricter qualifications for expert witnesses in malpractice lawsuits, require plaintiffs to file a more detailed "certificate of merit" with an expert to explain the alleged malpractice and require mediation before malpractice lawsuits proceed to trial (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 1/11).
Reaction
Ehrlich said that he was "disappointed" state lawmakers voted to override his veto, a decision that he called a "lost opportunity" to develop a long-term solution to health care problems in Maryland. He said, "A superfund for trial lawyers has been created, and I suspect that was the goal." He added, "If the goal here is to send a signal to the rest of the country that Maryland is serious about protecting its medical providers, I think we failed" (Nitkin/Green, Baltimore Sun, 1/12). State Delegate Herb McMillan (R) said that the bill "rearranges the deck chairs on the Titanic" and does not provide a long-term solution (Stuckey, AP/Las Vegas Sun, 1/11). State Senate President Thomas Mike Miller (D) said, "The Senate did the only possible thing it could do, and that is avoid any possible rate increase" (Washington Times, 1/12). He added, "In my heart of hearts, I know the governor is upstairs thanking someone above that we overrode the veto, because we solved a major problem for him" (Baltimore Sun, 1/12).
Broadcast Coverage
- NPR's "Morning Edition" on Monday reported on a medical liability reform bill passed by the Maryland legislature that would provide as much as $64 million to help physicians cover the cost of malpractice insurance premiums through the repeal of a tax exemption for HMOs. The segment includes comments from Cheye Calvo with the National Conference of State Legislatures, Sen. Brian Frosh (D), and Senate Minority Leader Lowell Stoltzfus (R) (Nurnberger, "Morning Edition," NPR, 1/10). The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.
- NPR's "Talk of the Nation" on Wednesday in the second hour of the program will include a discussion of tort reform (Conan, "Talk of the Nation," NPR, 1/12). The complete segment will be available online in RealPlayer after the broadcast at 6 p.m. ET.
