Sen. Frist Indicates Willingness To Compromise on Malpractice Legislation, USA

Main Category: Litigation / Medical Malpractice
Article Date: 17 Mar 2005 - 9:00 PDT


Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) on Tuesday "signaled a new willingness to compromise" on stalled medical malpractice legislation and said he would consider reforms beyond caps on noneconomic damages, ...CongressDaily reports (Heil, CongressDaily, 3/16). Speaking to a group of obstetricians and gynecologists in a press conference, Frist said he supports a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages in malpractice cases, but he added that he is willing to consider other ideas and is seeking to start negotiations, CQ HealthBeat reports. Frist said he is aiming to enact a "comprehensive" measure that could possibly include some insurance industry reforms that have been proposed by Democrats (CQ HealthBeat [1], 3/15). Frist said he could consider measures to modify "joint and several liability" in lawsuits, place "reasonable limits" on attorneys' fees and possibly raise the proposed cap on noneconomic damages. While Frist did not detail possible changes to insurance laws, he said he would consider "something that would adjust or modify or send signals to the insurance industry." He added, "We will consider all kinds of options. Just come to the table" (CongressDaily, 3/16). Earlier on Tuesday, Frist noted, "I can't win on medical malpractice today. I only need three or four Democrats to come to the table" (Heil, CongressDaily, 3/15). In addition, Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), who has criticized Democrats' positions on malpractice reform, told doctors at the press conference, "We've got to put the politics aside" (CQ HealthBeat [1], 3/15). However, according to CongressDaily, other Republicans on Tuesday seemed "less conciliatory" on the issue of malpractice reform. "Let's see what the votes are," Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said, adding, "Let's see if (Democrats) are comfortable voting against their own OB/GYNs" (CongressDaily, 3/16).

HHS Administrative Options
HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt on Tuesday told the American Medical Association during a meeting in Washington, D.C., that CMS is considering administrative options to enact malpractice changes, CongressDaily reports. Leavitt said he is "optimistic" about an HHS pilot program that would allow a patient and physician in a malpractice claim to submit to a third-party administrator confidential amounts they think should be in a settlement. If the amounts are similar or close, the administrator then could broker an agreement (CongressDaily, 3/15). Former HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson announced the program -- "Early Offers" -- last fall (CQ HealthBeat [2], 3/15). "That's just one option to take the gamesmanship out of the system," Leavitt said, adding that other administrative options could include using "risk-management" techniques and adopting new methods to prevent medical errors from occurring. However, Leavitt and CMS Administrator Mark McClellan both noted that Congress still would need to pass a measure to correct flaws in the system. "We're working on limited administrative ideas that may address some problems in the interim," McClellan said, adding, "But these are limited steps, and what we really need is permanent reform" (CongressDaily, 3/15). NPR's "All Things Considered" on Tuesday reported on Leavitt's statements. The segment includes comments from Leavitt; Donald Palmisano, former president of AMA; Todd Smith, president of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America; and Doug Wojcieszak, founder of the Sorry Works! Coalition (Rovner, "All Things Considered," NPR, 3/15).

The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.

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