With many people agreeing that high health care liability insurance costs are at least partially attributable to the costs of health care costs, a new bill H.R. 5 seeks to limit costs by introducing new tort reform. Essentially, H.R. 5, the Help Efficient Assessible, Low Cost, Timely Health Care Act of 2011 (HEALTH) puts limits on limiting the recoverable amount for malpractice, The bill seeks to set limits for medical malpractice, pharmaceutical products, and other health claims.
The bill seeks to limit liability costs that tend to put a great deal of pressure on the health care system, inflating costs for virtually all medical services.
The bill is cosponsored by 82 representatives including Kevin Brady of the Texas 8th district, Michael Conaway of the Texas 11th district, and Bill Flores of the Texas 17th district.
The bill has some significant opposition from trial lawyers associations and an organization called People Over Profits Grass Roots Action Center. The primary opposition centers around the feeling of the groups that limiting liability works against consumers and quotes a statistic that 98,000 people die each year from medical errors.
Do you believe that liability should be capped to help reduce medical costs?
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