Med Mal Blog from Robinson Group Strategic Communications, LLC

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President, Republicans clash at health-care summit
Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter, Manitowoc, WI (Associated Press) - Feb 26, 2010
...Any skepticism about reaching broad consensus was vindicated as soon as the first Republican spoke — in opposition to the mammoth bills that have passed the House and Senate. Alexander, of Tennessee, said Congress and the administration should start over and take small steps, including medical malpractice reform...

No clear winner in seven-hour gabfest
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA (Politico) - Feb 26, 2010
...Why can't we do something about the biggest cost driver, which is medical malpractice and the defensive medicine that doctors practice? Let's start with a clean sheet of paper where we can actually get somewhere and we can get it into law here in the next several months," Boehner said...

Health summit shows divergent views
USA Today - Feb 26, 2010
...Obama: "I've already said that I think this is a real issue. I disagree with John Boehner. John, when you say that it is the single biggest driver of medical inflation, that is just not the case."...

In gamble, Obama and Dems prepare to ram health care through
Fox News (Associated Press) - Feb 26, 2010
...Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who has a track record of working across the political aisle, said he would try to broaden common ground. Obama said he was willing to incorporate medical malpractice changes into his plan...

Health summit is a failure as President Obama vows to move forward on reform
New York Daily News, NY - Feb 26, 2010
...Obama insisted that he heard some GOP ideas - such as on medical malpractice reform - that he might be able to embrace. But he was adamant he won't return to the drawing board...

Factbox: Areas of agreement, disagreement at health summit
Post Chronicle, Denville, NJ - Feb 26, 2010
...* Republicans said Democrats were only "paying lip service" to medical malpractice reform. * Democrats said placing caps on non-economic awards was not the answer and argued in favor of incentives to states to reduce the need for lawsuits...

Fact check: Dueling polls and dubious stats
Forbes.com (Associated Press) - Feb 26, 2010
...The Congressional Budget Office estimated the government could save $41 billion over 10 years by capping jury awards in medical malpractice lawsuits - an idea promoted by Republicans but opposed by trial lawyers...

Malpractice liability a hot topic at health care summit
Law.com - Feb 26, 2010
Thursday's televised "summit" on health care proved to be a new forum in which Republican lawmakers could press again for limits on medical malpractice awards, and another opportunity for the plaintiffs bar to play defense...

Race to pin blame for high health-care costs
Wall Street Journal, NY - Feb 26, 2010
...And doctors say they are strong-armed by insurance monopolies and hampered by medical malpractice costs. In the rush to point fingers, few solutions are emerging...

Editorial: What's next for ObamaCare?
Santa Cruz Sentinel, CA - Feb 26, 2010
...But will the president take a smaller plan and be able to count it a political success? One signal that he might came during Thursday's session when Obama said he wants to change how the United States deals with medical malpractice lawsuits -- long a Republican argument for why health care is so expensive...

Editorial: No cure in sight: White House summit failed to move the ball on health care bill
New York Daily News, Feb 26, 2010
...Channel whatever bipartisan energy there is on Capitol Hill into three bills, four bills, five bills - manageable and understandable pieces of legislation that build on shared ideas like selling insurance across state lines, improving preventive care, attacking medical malpractice lawsuits and giving health care consumers a much greater role in decision-making...

Will the summit impact health reform?
CBS News - Feb 25, 2010
...But there's one big Republican priority that's not in the plan - major medical malpractice reform...

Obama open to curbing medical malpractice suits
BusinessWeek (Associated Press) - Feb 25, 2010
President Barack Obama says he wants to change how the United States deals with medical malpractice lawsuits, although he says Republicans are overstating its effects on the health care system...

Opinion - Katie Connolly: Health-care summit: The most fascinating boring day ever
Newsweek - Feb 25, 2010
...Perhaps the only issue where there was some meaningful movement was tort reform: despite Dick Durbin's eloquent takedown of caps on payouts, Obama believes Republicans have some good ideas and will instruct Democrats to work on them...

posted by Editor at 7:20 AM

Q+A: What's the point of Obama's healthcare summit?
Reuters - Feb 25, 2010
...They want a simpler, less costly step-by-step approach that would limit medical malpractice lawsuits, allow small businesses to form health insurance groups and permit insurers to sell policies across state lines...

Obama's health talks will underscore party divisions
BusinessWeek - Feb 25, 2010
...Obama and his fellow Democrats plan an increase in government assistance; Republicans more often bring up the need to limit medical malpractice lawsuits...

Editorial: Enough talk; pass a health reform bill
The Milford Daily News, Milford, MA - Feb 25, 2010
...We'd be happy to see malpractice reform and some expansion of health insurance competition across state lines...

Editorial: Health care: Doing nothing not an option
The Charlotte Observer, NC - Feb 25, 2010
..."End junk lawsuits"? It encourages states to develop new malpractice systems. (The cost of malpractice lawsuits themselves, including legal fees, insurance costs and payouts, amounts to less than half of 1 percent of health-care spending.)...

Opinion - John F. Cogan, Glenn Hubbard, and Daniel Kessler: A better way to reform health care
Wall Street Journal, New York, NY - Feb 25, 2010
...Three policy changes will go a long way to achieving these objectives: (1) eliminate the tax code's bias that favors health insurance over out-of-pocket spending; (2) remove state-government barriers to purchasing and providing health services; and (3) reform medical malpractice laws...

Opinion - Stephen C. Schimpff: Beyond health care 'rights'
Baltimore Sun, MD - Feb 25, 2010
...Doctors who want malpractice reform (a right) need to do their part to markedly improve patient safety (a responsibility). In this model, both doctor and payer/patient have their rights and their responsibilities - resulting in better care, healthier patients, less-stressed physicians and reduced total costs to the system...

Opinion - Arnold 'Duke' Livermore: The problem: Cost control, not insurers
News-Journal, Daytona Beach, FL - Feb 25, 2010
...Second, our current malpractice system is another significant contributor of unnecessary costs. Additional regulation in this area, including the establishment of Health Courts, could eliminate the waste caused by defensive medicine ...

Preparing for a health debate, and for its TV audience
New York Times, NY - Feb 24, 2010
...One way Mr. Obama could throw Republicans off stride would be to make a bold opening offer to embrace one of their health care priorities, like limitingmedical malpractice lawsuits — an idea one Democrat close to the White House said had been under consideration...

ProAssurance profits up 25% in '09
Birmingham Business Journal, AL - Feb 24, 2010
...The Birmingham-based medical malpractice insurer posted $222 million in net income for the year ended Dec. 31...

House okays repeal of health insurers' antitrust exemption
National Underwriter, Hoboken, NJ - Feb 24, 2010
...Approval for the “Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act” came on a 406-19 vote. The measure did not repeal the antitrust exemption for medical malpractice insurers...

US House slaps antitrust law on health insurers
Reuters - Feb 24, 2010
...The Senate Judiciary Committee's version of the legislation is narrower in some ways than the House version, although the Senate bill also strips medical malpractice insurers of their antitrust exemption. Obama has said that he would sign the repeal into law...

posted by Editor at 8:28 AM

Stage set for healthcare political drama
Washington Post, DC - Feb 24, 2010
...Republicans demand Democrats abandon their broad proposals for a simpler, less costly, step-by step approach that would limit medical malpractice lawsuits, allow small businesses to form health insurance groups and permit insurers to sell policies across state lines...

G.O.P. expects little from Obama's health forum
New York Times, NY - Feb 24, 2010
...The proposal that House Republicans will carry into the meeting with Mr. Obama would encourage small businesses to band together to buy insurance; would give federal money to states to run high-risk pools for people who cannot obtain private insurance; and would limit damages in medical malpractice lawsuits...

Health bill faces big hurdles in House
Wall Street Journal, New York, NY - Feb 24, 2010
...Instead of passing a sweeping bill, Republicans say Congress should pass incremental legislation to curb medical malpractice lawsuits, allow insurers to sell policies across state lines and create high-risk pools for sick consumers to obtain coverage...

Medical malpractice back on the table?
The Omaha World-Herald, NE (Associated Press) - Feb 24, 2010
...Studies have found that capping malpractice damage awards and making other changes would help reduce overall health care spending nationally. But it’s no magic bullet: Estimates on the size of that reduction vary from a minimal one to, in a perfect world, maybe 10 percent of overall health spending...

Editorial: Things to do quickly
The Providence Journal, RI - Feb 24, 2010
...For example, Democrats could adopt some of the GOP’s better ideas, such as reforming America’s medical-malpractice laws. Doctors prescribe much unnecessary testing as protection against malpractice suits...

Editorial: The first four steps
The Boston Globe, MA - Feb 24, 2010
...Fourth, Congress must reform the medical malpractice system. The only winners in the current system are the plaintiffs’ lawyers...

Opinion - Larry McNeely and Mike Russo: Healthcare reform, not political theater
Los Angeles Times, CA - Feb 24, 2010
...Gregg would pay for his plan by having Medicare beneficiaries pay for more of their care, and by taxing healthcare benefits above $11,500 a year for families and $5,000 for individuals. He sees medical malpractice reform as central to containing healthcare costs...

For healthcare summit planners, it's the furniture, stupid!
Baltimore Sun, MD - Feb 23, 2010
...One issue they expect to come up is medical malpractice. Republicans want to see cutbacks in litigation and damages, while Democrats are reluctant to offend trial lawyers who are a major source of campaign money and political support...

Newspapers grade latest Obama health plan
Dallas Morning News, TX - Feb 23, 2010
...Or he could have borrowed their ideas on how to curb unwarranted lawsuits and excessive medical malpractice awards...

Illinois urges continued competition, lower rates in medical liability line
Insurance Journal, San Diego, CA - Feb 23, 2010
The Illinois Department of Insurance reported it has observed increased competition and 10 percent decrease in premium paid in the medical malpractice line of insurance since reforms were enacted in 2005...

posted by Editor at 8:00 AM

Obama presents health care plan
The Boston Globe, MA - Feb 23, 2010
...It does not, however, include some of the GOP’s most sought-after goals, such as caps on medical malpractice lawsuits...

Obama renews health push
Wall Street Journal, New York, NY - Feb 23, 2010
...Republicans are expected to call at the summit for more targeted legislation that curbs malpractice lawsuits, creates high-risk insurance pools for sick people and allows consumers to purchase insurance across state lines...

Obama's health care plan raises stakes ahead of summit
TIME - Feb 23, 2010
...the White House was also communicating that Democrats have already adopted all their favorite Republican ideas and won't be adding any major new ones to their reform legislation. (One possible exception is medical-malpractice reform...

Boehner shoots down new health-care proposal
The Columbus Dispatch, OH - Feb 23, 2010
...For more than a year, Boehner and his GOP colleagues have backed plans to limit financial damages from medical-malpractice lawsuits and allow smaller companies to band together to find less-expensive policies...

Editorial: The health care debate: Politics as usual
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PA - Feb 23, 2010
...Oh, the session could have some substance -- if Democrats for once considered the opposition's focus on the primary drivers of health-care costs, such as malpractice insurance...

Opinion - Tim Pawlenty: 5 steps to health care reform
Union Leader, Manchester, NH - Feb 22, 2010
...At a minimum, we should establish uniform standards for medical liability limits to discourage interstate jury shopping that drives up everybody’s health-care costs...

Calif. tort reform bills face certain death, observers say
LegalNewsline, Chicago, IL - Feb 23, 2010
..."Tort reform legislation would take a special session in this state, similar to energy deregulation and workers' comp. reform, in order to create the focus needed to get something done," she said...

House Democrats seek to revoke insurers' antitrust exemption
BusinessWeek (Bloomberg) - Feb 22, 2010
...House Democrats agreed to exclude medical malpractice insurers from legislation that would apply antitrust laws to health insurance companies, clearing the way for a vote on the measure this week...

Medical malpractice excluded from McCarran-Ferguson legislation
Insurance Journal, San Diego, CA - Feb 22, 2010
...Recently proposed free-standing legislation introduced by Reps. Perriello and Markey to amend the McCarran-Ferguson Act for health insurers will no longer include a provision that would impact medical professional liability insurance, according to trade groups representing property/casualty insurers...

Illinois med-mal ruling to boost insurers' costs 18%: study
Crain's Chicago Business, IL - Feb 22, 2010
...The consulting firm said the recent removal of caps on malpractice awards would lead to higher costs per malpractice claim, on average. The number of people suing their doctors also is likely to rise, the firm said...

posted by Editor at 7:22 AM

Bipartisan health care summit: A meeting for 'show'?
Fox News - Feb 22, 2010
...It is like Republicans saying unless medical malpractice is part of this, we're not go that talk. If both sides go in with preconditions, then that's not what the American people want here...

Doctors: 21 percent of medicine defensive
United Press International - Feb 22, 2010
Physicians who say they practice defensive medicine in the last 12 months characterized 21 percent of their practice as defensive, a U.S. study indicated...

N.H. high court halts state raid on liability fund
American Medical News, Chicago, IL - Feb 22, 2010
...Experts said the ruling could send a message to other states, such as Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, where physicians are engaged in similar legal battles over state authorities' grabs at liability pools...

News in brief: N.C. high court narrows liability rule
American Medical News, Chicago, IL - Feb 22, 2010
The North Carolina Supreme Court left intact an appeals court ruling that state physicians worry could promote uncertain liability standards and expose them to greater risk...

Antitrust shield bill cuts malpractice insurers
Business Insurance, New York, NY - Feb 22, 2010
A bill has been introduced to strip health insurers of the limited antitrust exemption granted to them by the McCarran-Ferguson Act, but unlike a previous version, this measure would not impose the change on medical malpractice insurers...

States look beyond Washington on health
Wall Street Journal, New York, NY - Feb 22, 2010
...Colorado, meanwhile, has pushed for advances in health information technology and for limits on damages awarded in medical malpractice suits...

Opinion - Dr. Jerome Hines: Medical malpractice reforms are needed
Daily Herald, Arlington Heights, IL - Feb 22, 2010
...This is not the time to saddle health care providers with rising medical malpractice premiums. Illinois law allowed physicians to treat their patients with the right care at the right time, without the risk of having to spend time and money fighting baseless lawsuits...

Utah Legislature: Malpractice awards could get capped
Deseret News, Salt Lake City, UT - Feb 21, 2010
A bill capping malpractice lawsuit awards — a step deemed vital to bringing health care costs under control but a proposal that several lawmakers thought they would never see ?— was approved by a Senate committee Friday...

Opinion - Ralph E. Stone: Time to pass the Health Insurance Industry Enforcement Act of 2009
Baltimore Chronicle & Sentinel, MD - Feb 21, 2010
...Repeal of the Act would ensure that health insurance issuers and medical malpractice insurance issuers cannot engage in price fixing, bid rigging, monopoly practices, or market allocations to the detriment of competition and consumers...

Opinion - Don Nelson: It's insurance that needs to be reformed
Banner-Herald, Athens, GA - Feb 21, 2010
...Doctors and legislators have been convinced that malpractice lawsuits represent the big boogeyman responsible for skyrocketing health care costs. Yet, in states where tort reform has been passed, have insurance premiums gone down? For doctors in some states, yes, but for consumers, health care insurance premiums have not...

Opinion - Dan Foster: Health reform 'truths' debunked
The Charleston Gazette, WV - Feb 21, 2010
...Indeed, there are other elements that would be helpful, such as medical liability reform, but as shown by the success of Massachusetts' efforts, as opposed to poor results from other states' piecemeal attempts over the years, the only way to adequately cover the uninsured, control costs and maintain or improve quality is through comprehensive reform...

State's top court is siding with malpractice claims
Detroit Free Press, MI (Associated Press) - Feb 20, 2010
Twice this week, a divided Michigan Supreme Court took action favoring people with medical malpractice claims...

Opinion - Stephen Berman: The urgency of health care reform
The Denver Post, CO - Feb 20, 2010
...Ultimately people's ability to afford to purchase insurance, will depend on our ability to slow the growth in health care expenditures over time. Part of the excessive growth in costs is related to the introduction of new technologies and the impact of medical malpractice on clinical decisions...

posted by Editor at 7:43 AM

Gubernatorial candidates focus on economy
The Morning Call, Allentown, PA – Feb 19, 2010
…''The liability costs in this commonwealth and the fear of liability insurance for our OBGYNs is so high that the hospitals down here and others have eliminated them because of underlying risk,'' he said….

Editorial: Proposal to leverage tax on physicians to boost federal Medicaid payments would worsen doctor shortage
The Detroit News, MI – Feb 19, 2010
…But West Virginia is dumping its 2 percent physician levy amid claims from the state's medical society that the tax and high malpractice costs, is driving doctors away…

Opinion – Bob McMillan: The future for healthcare reform
Anton Community Newspapers, Mineola, NY – Feb 19, 2010
…When 80 percent of medical liability lawsuits are dismissed, something has to be done to stop frivolous lawsuits. Savings from malpractice reform could mean $60 billion each year in defensive medicine…

Medical malpractice insurers could keep antitrust protection
Insurance Journal, San Diego, CA – Feb 18, 2010
…According to Politico.com, Democratic aides in the House said the final antitrust bill likely will not include new restrictions on medical malpractice insurers…

MI high court again split 4-3 on malpractice
CNBC (Associated Press) – Feb 18, 2010
For the second time in as many days, a divided Michigan Supreme Court took action Thursday favoring people with medical malpractice claims…

SB145 seeks to drive down health care costs
Davis County Clipper, Bountiful, UT – Feb 18, 2010
…There are times that litigation is helpful to negate loss and injury. But there are many suits filed that don’t have merit. That’s what this bill is trying to stop.”…

Business news briefs: APCapital buying back more shares
Lansing State Journal, MI – Feb 18, 2010
…The medical liability insurer on said Wednesday it finished repurchasing $10 million in stocks and started a $20 million plan authorized in December…

Opinion – James Warren: Health care experts must face what politicians won’t
New York Times, NY – Feb 18, 2010
…As for the Republicans, Mr. Dranove would ask them, “Do you have anything meaningful to offer in the debate?” He would note that the overwhelming evidence suggested that malpractice reform would have at best a small impact on spending…

posted by Editor at 7:35 AM

Opinion - Travis Akin: Malpractice reform law
Chicago Tribune, IL - Feb 18, 2010
...But all of the progress made in the last few years was thrown out when the high court overturned the medical malpractice reform law. Rest assured there is another health care crisis on the horizon. The call to arms starts right now...

Mich. high court split 4-3 on new malpratice rule
Chicago Tribune, IL (Associated Press) - Feb 17, 2010
A divided Michigan Supreme Court has issued an order creating new deadlines for health care providers being sued for malpractice...

Proposal would limit damage awards in California
LegalNewsline.com, Chicago, IL - Feb 17, 2010
...Niello's proposal to cap noneconomic damage awards at $250,000 in all civil cases is similar to California's landmark Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act, the 34-year-old law that limits noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases at $250,000...

Opinion - Mary Kate Cary: How Republicans should handle Obam's health reform summit
US News and World Report - Feb 17, 2010
...There are other common-sense, free-market Republican ideas for healthcare reform that Americans support. A January Rasmussen poll shows that 6 in 10 Americans favor limited jury awards in medical malpractice suits to lower costs...

Opinion: Peter Summerill: Senate Bill 145 -- Insurance firms put profit ahead of patient safety
Standard-Examiner, Ogden, UT - Feb 17, 2010
...Malpractice insurance companies, if they care about quality of care, would support identifying the good health care providers and hospitals and not hiding the others which aren't so good...

posted by Editor at 6:57 AM

Insurers, providers offer ideas for reform
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA - Feb 17, 2010
...Between daunting medical malpractice premiums, and the prospects for big medical school loan debts, fewer doctors may be entering primary care because other specialties pay more...

Emergency doctors back bill redefining malpractice
The Tennessean, Nashville, TN - Feb 17, 2010
...Under the bill filed last month, the definition of medical malpractice would be changed from "negligence" to "gross negligence," which would raise the bar for mistakes that could trigger a lawsuit...

posted by Editor at 7:30 AM

Democrats concede on malpractice insurers
Politico, Washington, DC - Feb 16, 2010
...But Democrats look like they’ll scale back the legislation to protect insurance companies that offer malpractice coverage to doctors and other health care providers, bowing to industry pressure in the latest concession of the health care fight...

Opinion - Allen Adomite: A gift to trial lawyers
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO - Feb 16, 2010
...Feb. 4 was not a good day for medical liability reform — as personal injury lawyers were handed a personal gift in the form of 4-2 opinion from the Illinois Supreme Court to strike down the bipartisan medical liability reform...

Editorial: Tort reform won't control health spending
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO - Feb 16, 2010
...Making the system fairer to doctors and patients is a worthwhile goal. But selling "tort reform" as a miracle cure for health care spending? That's just snake oil.

posted by Editor at 6:49 AM

Liability cap shot down by Illinois high court
American Medical News, Chicago, IL - Feb 15, 2010
...The decision marks the third time in roughly 30 years that Illinois justices have thrown out damage caps in medical liability and other personal injury cases based on similar constitutional defects...

Bipartisan quest easier said than done
Wichita Eagle, KS - Feb 15, 2010
...Obama said again last week that he is open to GOP ideas, but left open how avidly he would woo Republicans by accepting their proposals to limit medical malpractice suits or allow interstate operation of insurance companies...

Trial lawyers to Obama: Don't deal on tort reform in health talks
The Hill, Washington, DC - Feb 14, 2010
...Obama’s hints that he is willing to make a deal with Republicans on medical malpractice reform has got physicians and trial lawyers scratching their heads...

Kyl: Dems have already decided how to force health bill through
The Hill, Washington, DC - Feb 14, 2010
...Instead, Kyl called for redrafting the legislation from scratch — another common GOP claim in recent weeks — and argued that it should start with limits on medical malpractice lawsuits...

Editorial: Back to work on health care
The Buffalo News, Buffalo, NY - Feb 14, 2010
...They can ask him why he won't do anything about lawsuit reform, which is needed to combat the expensive problem of defensive medicine; an October analysis by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated savings of $41 billion over 10 years...

Mixed GOP response to WH health summit invite
The Associated Press - Feb 13, 2010
...Members of both parties say they see a few areas for common ground, including revamping the medical malpractice system and finding ways to allow consumers to shop for insurance plans across state lines...

Editorial: Looking forward to health summit
Journal Star, Lincoln, NE - Feb 13, 2010
...Among Republican ideas that are worth consideration are placing limits on medical malpractice awards and allowing small businesses to join in large pools to defray costs and limit risk...

Editorial: New ideas for national health care
Chicago Tribune, IL - Feb 12, 2010
...Sounds like must-see TV. No, we're not kidding. We hope it's not just a cameo appearance for the Republicans but the start of a bipartisan effort at health care reform...

posted by Editor at 6:25 AM

Health summit puts spotlight on GOP
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA - Feb 12, 2010
...Republicans do this by making it easier to buy insurance across state lines, imposing strict limits on medical malpractice lawsuits and allowing small businesses to pool their resources to buy insurance as a big group...

Democrats skeptical health care summit is answer
ABC News (Associated Press) - Feb 12, 2010
...Another is that Democrats find a way to incorporate some Republican proposals, such as curbs on medical malpractice lawsuits, into legislation. Then they'd essentially call Republicans' bluff by forcing them to vote on it...

Lynch says $140m in spending must be cut
Nashua Telegraph, Hudson, NH - Feb 12, 2010
...the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional the move to balance the current budget with $110 million in surplus of the Joint Underwriting Association that supplies medical malpractice or liability insurance coverage to some doctors, hospitals and other providers...

Lynch tells agencies to plan for cuts
Concord Monitor, NH - Feb 12, 2010
...Lynch said the shortfalls were due mainly to three factors: lagging revenue, the Supreme Court's recent decision that the state could not take $110 million from a medical malpractice fund, and increased demand for health and human services...

APCapital earnings slide 16.2 percent
Lansing State Journal, MI - Feb 12, 2010
American Physicians Capital Inc.'s profit dropped 16.2 percent in the fourth quarter. The medical liability insurer reported Thursday it earned $9.7 million, or 95 cents per share for the quarter that ended in December 2009...

Reform group spotlights insurance industry profits
The Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY - Feb 11, 2010
...A health care bill proposed by House Republicans could lower premiums on the individual market by as much as 8 percent, but for reasons that could be both good and bad for consumers. For example, a proposed limit on medical malpractice awards could lower premiums without affecting the scope of coverage or who gets it...

Hot-potato legislation seeks fair hearing
Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake CIty, UT - Feb 11, 2010
After a few detours, a controversial bill that would cap medical malpractice awards for pain and suffering at $250,000 is now headed to the Senate Natural Resources committee for discussion and public input...

Throwing insurance reform out with the bath water
Illinois TImes, Springfield, IL - Feb 11, 2010
...because the law contains an “inseverability clause” that specifies the entire law is voided if any part is struck down, several other rules have been struck down along with the award caps. That includes requirements that insurance companies report to the state their profits, investment income, premium rates and a variety of other benchmarks used to determine whether the companies charge fair rates...

Opinion - Keith Forman: Thoughts on the overturning of Illinois' med mal cap
The Daily Record, Baltimore, MD - Feb 11, 2010
...Regardless of what happens in the Freed case, I expect to see many similar challenges to state caps in the near future as a result of the unprecedented decision of the Illinois Supreme Court last week.

posted by Editor at 7:24 AM

Committee OKs medical review panel bill
Star-Tribune, Casper, WY - Feb 11, 2010
The conclusions of a panel that reviews medical malpractice claims will not be admissible in court if a bill approved by a House committee gets through the Legislature...

Utah Legislature: $250K malpractice cap being debated
Deseret News, Salt Lake City, UT - Feb 11, 2010
Malpractice lawsuits generally, and frivolous cases in particular, are regarded as the most obvious yet least-discussed issue of health care reform efforts, both in Utah and in Congress, according to proponents of SB145...

Editorial: Health care reform stalemate
The Star-Ledger, Newark, NJ - Feb 11, 2010
...Democrats have offered nothing on malpractice so far, in deference to the trial lawyers who give them so much money. If Obama really wants to change politics, there’s an opportunity...

Opinion - Richard Ralston: Health care fight: What's next?
The Orange County Register, Santa Ana, CA - Feb 10, 2010
...Limits on noneconomic damages in medical liability lawsuits would lower the cost of insurance and the unnecessary tests and procedures now required by "defensive medicine."...

Opinion - Curt Levey: Health-care reform could create a litigation explosion
Wall Street Journal, NY - Feb 10, 2010
...Now that the federal government is inserting itself between you and your insurance company, we'll also see coverage disputes in which the feds are among the defendants. HHS might even wind up as a defendant in medical malpractice lawsuits...

posted by Editor at 7:16 AM

State asks for JUA rehearing
Concord Monitor, NH - Feb 10, 2010
State officials have asked the state Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling denying the state access to $110 million from a medical malpractice fund...

Virginia passes bill to limit legal claims on one firm
Washington Post, DC - Feb 10, 2010
...The proposal -- one of the few that Howell put his considerable power behind -- would limit liability for Philadelphia-based Crown Cork & Seal, which employs 300 workers at plants in Virginia...

Obama, GOP seek accord
Wall Street Journal, New York, NY - Feb 10, 2010
...The president said he would consider new limits on medical-malpractice lawsuits, something he has opened the door to before. But he suggested this policy would have only a minimal impact on the rising cost of care and would have to be coupled with other changes...

Editorial: Both parties must reform health care
The Des Moines Register, IA - Feb 10, 2010
...Tort reform to cap damages in medical malpractice cases may reduce what doctors pay for malpractice insurance, but it doesn't get more people insured or prevent health insurance companies from denying coverage to people with certain health conditions...

Editorial: Three easy, sensible reforms
The Republican-American, Waterbury, CT - Feb 10, 2010
...And it could reduce health-care costs further by reining in the trial lawyers through a loser-pays system for medical-malpractice lawsuits and the establishment of independent panels to determine the merits of cases before malpractice suits may proceed...

Editorial: Court shouldn't 'fix' what isn't broken
Herald-Review, Decatur, IL - Feb 10, 2010
...The troubling aspect of the Supreme Court's decision is that it discourages the General Assembly from trying again to cap noneconomic damages. The majority in the court has made it clear it will reject such a plan.That will make it more difficult to address any exodus by doctors when malpractice premiums rise again.

Justices chose trial lawyers over patients, ICJL says
Madison/St.Clair Record, Edwardsville, IL - Feb 9, 2010
The four Illinois Supreme Court Justices who voted to overturn the state's caps on damages law last week chose trial lawyers over patients, according to the Illinois Civil Justice League (ICJL)...

posted by Editor at 7:25 AM

Bipartisan health reform is still possible
Forbes.com - Feb 9, 2010
...Medical malpractice liability for physicians leads to the practice of 'defensive medicine'- -the use of unnecessary and possibly harmful tests and procedures to deter lawsuits--which contributes to higher costs...

GOP may skip health-care talks if Dems won't dump bills
The Denver Post, CO - Feb 9, 2010
...Republicans also contend that changes in state medical malpractice laws could lower costs and slow the growth of premiums.

No high hopes for health care summit
Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, VA - Feb 9, 2010
...But Republicans aides say that even if Obama endorsed a tort reform component, that alone wouldn’t be enough to win GOP support for the Democratic plan...

On health bill, G.O.P.'s road is a new map
New York Times, NY - Feb 8, 2010
...However, some of these proposals — like federal limits on damages for pain and suffering and punitive damages — are potentially in conflict with the Republicans’ emphasis on federalism and state autonomy...

Va. congressman seeks end to anti-trust exemption for health insurers
Insurance & Financial Advisor, Hunt Valley, MD - Feb 8, 2010
With the drive to reform health care stuck in neutral, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to consider a key element of its legislation later this week: the repeal of an anti-trust exemption for health and medical malpractice insurers...

Opinion - Dennis Byrne: Supreme Court sets bad public policy
Chicago Tribune, IL - Feb 8, 2010
The Illinois Supreme Court demonstrated last week that it takes the "supreme" in its name all too seriously, as it struck down with divine certainty one of the best things that the Illinois Legislature has done recently: tort reform...

posted by Editor at 7:11 AM

Legislation would curb malpractice costs
Standard Speaker, Hazleton, PA - Feb 8, 2010
...One bill by Sen. John Rafferty, R-44, Collegeville, would keep the basic medical liability coverage level that doctors must obtain from the private market at $500,000. This would be accomplished by removing the state insurance commissioner's authority to conduct market studies that could conceivably increase that coverage level to $750,000 or even $1 million, proponents said...

Editorial: Five ideas for getting health care reform back on track
USA Today - Feb 8, 2010
...Add malpractice reform. Democrats resisted any true malpractice reform provision, painting themselves as captives of the trial lawyers' lobby...

Editorial: Moderating malpractice costs
The Baltimore Sun, MD - Feb 8, 2010
...Medical malpractice litigation is still an area that operates as a kind of high-stakes lottery where patients and medical practitioners alike win or lose on the most capricious of circumstances -- actual injury and physician malpractice not always proving to be significant factors...

Opinion - Bruce Bialosky: Real healthcare reform: Kill the lawyers
Townhall.com, Arlington, VA - Feb 8, 2010
...Toward that end, I have a proposal. We need to establish a separate forum to handle claims of medical malpractice...

Source: Obama, congressional leaders to talk health care Feb. 25
CNN - Feb 7, 2010
...Republicans complain the comprehensive Democratic health care bills would lead to a government takeover of health care. They call for smaller steps focused on individual issues, such as limiting medical malpractice lawsuits...

Apologies might save docs from being sued
The Wichita Eagle, KS - Feb 7, 2010
..."I'm sorry" laws are seen as a potential cost-saving move by the Physician Insurers Association of America, which represents medical liability insurers across the country that are owned and operated by medical professionals and cover about 60 percent of doctors...

Malpractice bill seeks to cap awards for pain and suffering
Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake City, UT - Feb 6, 2010
Victims of medical malpractice could see the amount of damages they could receive cut in half under a bill that is likely to pit the state's physicians against the lawyers who represent injured patients...

Medical lawsuits: Decline in claims cited as success
Columbus Dispatch, OH - Feb 6, 2010
Medical-malpractice claims continue to fall in Ohio, which doctors say is proof that state limits on damages passed in 2003 are having a positive effect...

Illinois revises medical malpractice law
LawyersandSettlements.com, Santa Cruz, CA - Feb 6, 2010
On February 4, 2009 the Illinois Supreme Court voted against the state's medical malpractice law and decided that limits on damages awarded to victims of medical negligence are unconstitutional. Now, Illinois patients may have greater access to health care and lower medical liability rates...

Editorial: Decision harms health care reform
Madison/St. Clair Record, Edwardsville, IL - Feb 6, 2010
...The court has overreached, and the legislature needs to pass new, carefully crafted legislation that creates caps on medical damages and also meets the imposed standards of the court...

posted by Editor at 7:53 AM

IL Supreme Court throws out medical malpractice caps
Public News Service, Boulder, CO - Feb 5, 2010
Medical groups and insurance companies believe a ruling yesterday by the state Supreme Court will prompt more malpractice suits, while the state's trial lawyers say it's a victory for patients...

Malpractice caps controversial
Herald News, Joliet, IL - Feb 5, 2010
Local reaction to Thursday's decision by the Illinois Supreme Court to overturn caps on medical malpractice awards was passionate on both sides of the debate...

Editorial: Turn for worse for health care
Belleville News-Democrat, IL - Feb 5, 2009
...Now that the law has been tossed out, we expect the exodus to resume. Many of our doctors will move to Missouri or one of the 32 other states that do cap medical malpractice awards...

Illinois Court overturns malpractice statute
New York Times, NY - Feb 4, 2010
In a case that could resonate in Washington, the Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the state’s five-year-old medical malpractice law because it limited compensation to injured patients for pain, suffering and other non-economic harms...

Illinois Supreme Court tosses malpractice-award curbs
Wall Street Journal, NY - Feb 4, 2010
...That law, the court noted in its ruling, was passed to address the rising cost of medical-liability insurance in the state. Still, the court held that the damage cap violates the Illinois constitution's "separation of powers" doctrine by infringing on courts' prerogative to determine appropriate damages in cases...

Illinois Supreme Court strikes down medical mapractice law that limits damages
Chicago Tribune, IL - Feb 4, 2010
The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the state's medical malpractice law, saying limits on damages awarded to victims of medical negligence are unconstitutional...

Editorial: Illinoise Supreme Court declares medical malpractice reform unconstitutional
Chicago Tribune, IL - Feb 4, 2010
...The court threw out a sound law and essentially told the state's lawmakers: Don't even bother to try this again. This is a disastrous decision...

Attorneys say malpractice ruling will have little effect on Peoria
Journal Star, Peoria, IL - Feb 4, 2010
..."The effect it will have locally is very, very small," said attorney Jeff Green of East Peoria. "Doctors here have lost very few cases over the past 10 years."...

Doctors against Court's malpractice caps ruling
The State Journal-Register, Springfield, IL - Feb 4, 2010
Patients in rural Illinois will have to travel farther for specialty medical care, and health-care costs will rise even faster in the wake of Thursday’s Illinois Supreme Court ruling on medical-malpractice caps, three Springfield doctors predicted...

Downstate lawmakers disappointed by court decision on malpractice
Pantagraph, Bloomington, IL - Feb 4, 2010
...The caps were enacted to control rising medical malpractice insurance premiums which were blamed for some doctors leaving the state to practice medicine elsewhere. Downstate lawmakers largely supported the caps...

Illinois Supreme Court knocks down malpractice award limits
The Examiner, Washington, DC - Feb 4, 2010
...17 other states have similar caps, but the majority opinion, written by Chief Justice Thomas Fitzgerald, says his only concern is the Illinois constitution, writing: "That 'everyboy's doing it' is hardly a litmus test for the constitutionality of the statute."...

Illinois does what Maryland didn't
The Daily Record, Baltimore, MD - Feb 4, 2010
...In the Maryland case, the issue was whether the cap on non-economic damages applies to cases not first submitted to arbitration...

Markey to introduce bill to strip anti-trust protection from insurers
Northern Colorado Business Report, Fort Collins, CO - Feb 4, 2010
U.S. Reps. Betsy Markey, D-Colo., and Tom Perriello, D-Va., will introduce a bill Friday to repeal the anti-trust exemption for health and medical malpractice insurance companies...

posted by Editor at 7:48 AM

Bill would prevent malpractice insurance costs
Republican & Herald, Pottsville, PA - Feb 4, 2010
...One bill by Sen. John Rafferty, R-44, Collegeville, would keep the basic medical liability coverage level that doctors must obtain from the private market at $500,000...

N.H. revenues fall $12M behind in January
SeacoastOnline.com - Feb 4, 2010
...That hole was made bigger for lawmakers when the Supreme Court ruled last week that the state could not transfer an estimated $44 million from the Joint Underwriting Association fund created by the state to help with medical malpractice premiums to help balance the 2010-2011 biennium budget...

Congressmen seek repeal of McCarran-Ferguson Act
Business Insurance, New York, NY - Feb 3, 2010
...Two freshmen representatives said Wednesday that they plan to introduce a bill this week that will repeal the McCarran-Ferguson Act’s limited antitrust exemption for health insurers and medical malpractice liability insurers...

posted by Editor at 7:20 AM

Nancy Pelosi heads for a two-track plan for health care reform
Politico, Washington, DC - Feb 3, 2010
...House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to take a shot at the health insurance industry next week by scheduling a vote on a smaller bill to revoke its half-century-old exemption from antitrust laws...

SC lawmakers to discuss new lawsuit limits
The State, Columbia, SC - Feb 3, 2010
...A Senate Judiciary panel takes up legislation that would limit lawsuit awards Wednesday. The bill would broaden 2005 limits placed on medical malpractice claims to other litigation...

Editorial: Hitting a new low
Observer-Reporter, Washington, PA - Feb 3, 2010
...No wonder tort reform has such a following. You would think that the Bar Association might discourage such unseemly and unprofessional advertising...

Editorial: State should make it easier for doctors to apologize
The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA - Feb 3, 2010
...Here in Massachusetts, the House Judiciary Committee heard testimony last week on several bills addressing this issue. As it has in the past, the state should once again show leadership in the field of health insurance by writing such malpractice reforms into law.

Illinois SC expected to releaser med-mal opinion
LegalNewsline, Chicago, IL - Feb 2, 2010
The Illinois Supreme Court is expected Thursday to file its opinion on the constitutionality of the state's landmark medical malpractice reform law...

NAIFA, FSR join P-C groups to oppose FTC authority proposal
National Underwriter, Hoboken, NJ - Feb 2, 2010
...The proposed bill also could end the antitrust exemption afforded health insurers and medical malpractice insurers by the McCarran-Ferguson Act...

Keep antitrust exemption, insurer groups urge House
National Underwriter, Hoboken, NJ - Feb 2, 2010
Insurance trade groups are asking the House to reject proposed legislation that would end the antitrust exemption afforded health and medical malpractice insurers by the McCarran-Ferguson Act...

posted by Editor at 7:36 AM

Court rejects state budget appeal
The Dartmouth, Hanover, NH - Feb 2, 2010
The New Hampshire Supreme Court rebuffed the state’s claim to the $110-million surplus in the Joint Underwriting Association’s medical malpractice fund in a 3-2 split decision last week...

Trial attorneys say civil system works
Bemidji Pioneer, MN - Feb 2, 2010
Tort reform that includes capping malpractice awards won’t solve anything, simply because it’s not a problem, says the president of the association that represents trial lawyers...

Lawmakers consider bill that would guarantee an apology couldn't earn doctors extra punishments
Lawrence Journal World, Lawrence, KS - Feb 1, 2010
...Under Senate Bill 374, a doctor could express sorrow or concern over an event, such as an operation not turning out well, without that expression being admitted as evidence of liability for any civil claim...

posted by Editor at 7:18 AM

'I'm sorry': Why is that so hard for doctors to say?
American Medical News, Chicago, IL - Feb 1, 2010
...Most insurers discourage doctors from apologizing for fear it could hurt them in court, and lawyers often advise against it...

Editorial: JUA decision means it's time to tighten the budget belt
Foster's Daily Democrat, Dover, NH - Feb 1, 2010
...In proposing the last-ditch effort to use JUA money to balance the budget, there was at least a tacit admission that the efforts to tax the state's way through the recession had bottomed out...

Opinion - Janet Trautwein: Medical liability system must change
The Boston Globe, MA - Feb 1, 2010
...Fixing the medical-liability system will not only keep health costs in check, it will expand patients’ access to care...

Editorial: Property protected: The JUA's significance
The Union Leader, Manchester, NH - Jan 31, 2010
...The New Hampshire Supreme Court's Thursday ruling refuting the state's claim to $110 million sitting in a private medical malpractice fund has ramifications far beyond the current state budget...

Malpractice cases drop, but views on why differ
The Des Moines Register, IA - Jan 31, 2010
Iowa patients are suing their doctors for malpractice half as often as they used to, which has helped drive down malpractice-insurance premiums for many physicians...

Lawmakers not expected to mull malpractice reform
The Des Moines Register, IA - Jan 31, 2010
Medical malpractice reform is a perennial issue at the Iowa Legislature, but it probably won't get much airing at the Statehouse this spring...

Opinion - Lola Spradley: Sensible health care reform now possible
The Pueblo Chieftan, CO - Jan 31, 2010
...we need to have lawsuit reform so that doctors do not have to practice defensive medicine by ordering additional tests and procedures just to avoid lawsuits. We need to make sure that patients have the right to compensation for true medical malpractice without all of us paying for unneeded care...

Malpractice risk affects doctors' hours
St. Louis Globe-Democrat, MO (United Press International) - Jan 30, 2010
The number of hours physicians spend on the job each week is influenced by the fear of malpractice lawsuits, U.S. researchers say...

Editorial: Waiting for the court
Chicago Tribune, IL - Jan 29, 2010
...This put a welcome restraint on the "jackpot justice" system of medical malpractice in Illinois, which was particularly egregious in Cook County and downstate Madison County. We remind you of this history because the fate of this law is still in doubt...

posted by Editor at 7:22 AM