Hearing: Tort Reform in the nursing home industry will be the focus of Aging Committee Hearing (USA)

Main Category: Nursing / Midwifery
Article Date: 13 Jul 2004 - 18:00 PDT

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Washington - As medical liability insurance costs for doctors in nursing homes continue to rise dramatically, Senator Larry Craig, chairman of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, announced his committee will examine a potential crisis for nursing home patients at a hearing titled "Medical Liability in Long-Term Care: Is Escalating Litigation a Threat to Quality and Access?" It will be held Thursday, July 15, at 2:00 p.m. in room 628 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC.

According to a survey released earlier this year by the American Medical Directors Association, over 20 percent of physicians who work in nursing homes interviewed said they had problems obtaining or renewing their medical liability insurance in the past year. Of those doctors, more than 30 percent said insurers refused to cover them because they work in nursing homes and more than 12 percent of those physicians said that insurance carriers had pulled out of the nursing home market in their areas.

In some cases, doctors working in nursing homes have seen their insurance premiums skyrocket from $3,500 a year to $35,000 a year - even when they did not have any lawsuits or claims made against them.

Thursday's hearing comes just as the Senate is considering legislation to shift many class-action suits to federal courts in an effort to stop lawyers from seeking easier state courts that are known to hand out huge awards. A similar bill has passed the House and the bill before the Senate has the support of more than 60 senators.

Tuesday's hearing will be webcast under the "Hearings" section of the Aging Committee's website and available for viewing later at http://aging.senate.gov. Prepared witness testimony will be available on that website once the hearing begins. An audiocast of the hearing may also be available - during the hearing only - on the C-SPAN "hearings" website, located at http://www.capitolhearings.org.

Witnesses:

• J. Norman Estes, President and CEO, Northport Health Services -NHS Management, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

• Theresa Bourdon, Managing Director and Actuarial, Aon Risk Consultants Inc., Columbia, Maryland

• James E. Lett II, Immediate Past President, American Medical Directors Association, Carmichael, California

• David Stevenson, Assistant Professor, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

• Marshall B. Kapp, Distinguished Professor of Law and Medicine, Southern Illinois University - School of Law, Carbondale, Illinois

• Lawrence M. Cutchin, MD, President, North Carolina Medical Society, Tarboro, North Carolina

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