- Given the fact that medical liability insurers no longer limit their services to a single state but engage in interstate commerce, it is appropriate and essential for Congress to pass federal liability reforms.
- Federal action would not preempt limits set by state laws. Not only is the HEALTH Act modeled after a successful effort in California to reform medical malpractice litigation, but other states include all or some of the provisions in the Act. Under the HEALTH Act, states without any cap will have a $250,000 cap on non-economic damages, but will be free to pass their own, different, caps.
The HEALTH Act provides that "No provision of this Act shall be construed to preempt ... any State statutory limit (whether enacted before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act) on the amount of compensatory or punitive damages (or the total amount of damages) that may be awarded in a health care lawsuit, whether or not such State limit permits the recovery of a specific dollar amount of damages that is greater or lesser than is provided for under this Act ..."
- In many states, opponents of liability reform have used the courts to create barriers to any meaningful reforms at the state level or even to overturn reforms passed by state legislatures. It's time for Congress to take action.
The States Cannot Fix the Medical Liability Crisis Alone... Only Congress Can