WASHINGTON, DC – The Health Coalition on Liability and Access today praised the release of a second debt reduction plan to include proven medical liability reforms, such as reasonable limits on non-economic damages. The broad coalition of health groups is pleased that there is continued bipartisan recognition that these reforms will help reduce health care costs. “The HCLA applauds the work of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Debt Reduction Task Force for recognizing the need for medical liability reform,” HCLA Chair Mike Stinson said. “This is the second set of policy recommendations in as many weeks to underscore the role of reasonable limits on non-economic damages in reducing health care costs, and our national debt,” Stinson added. The Bipartisan Policy Center’s Debt Reduction Task Force today released a report titled Restoring America’s Future. Chairing the study was former New Mexico Senator Pete Domenici and econo-mist and former CBO Director Dr. Alice Rivlin. The bipartisan study put the cost savings of restraining total health care costs at $756 billion through 2020, partly due to limits on noneconomic and punitive damages in medical liability cases. While estimates of the true cost savings from liability reform vary, a conservative study in September’s Health Affairs…
WASHINGTON, DC – The Health Coalition on Liability and Access today applauded the Co-Chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform for their endorsement of comprehensive medical liability reform in draft proposals of solutions to cut our national deficit over the next several decades. The coalition agrees that reform of our nation’s broken liability system should include reasonable limits on non-economic damages, which have a proven track record of success in states across the country. “The HCLA is pleased that the Co-Chairs of the President’s Debt Commission recognize the importance of comprehensive medical liability reform,” HCLA Chair Mike Stinson said. “Medical liability reform must be a priority for the new Congress. Reform will not only help reduce the cost of defensive medicine and our skyrocketing deficits, but it will preserve access to quality care for all Americans,” Stinson added. Chairmen Alan Simpson, a former Republican senator from Wyoming, and Erskine Bowles, former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, released an initial proposal yesterday that included plans to reduce health care costs – one of which is to “pay lawyers less and reduce the costs of defensive medicine by adopting comprehensive tort reform.” Estimates vary, but conservatively, a…
