Lobbyist groups takes credit for malpractice bill passed by House
The Physician Insurers Association of America (PIAA), a group which lobbies for medical liability insurance companies, is claiming a bill passed by the House to limit malpractice damages was largely written by the group, not members of Congress.
As the Washington Post reports, it’s not unusual for stakeholder groups to write draft legislation, but it’s normally changed by lawmakers and through input from public hearings before coming to a vote. In the case of the Protecting Access to Care Act, however, PIAA lobbyist Mike Stinson said “there wasn’t a dramatic change in how we wrote it.”
The bill, which would limit noneconomic damages in certain malpractice lawsuits to $250,000, passed on June 28 by a narrow margin of 218-210. Nineteen Republicans joined all House Democrats in voting “no.” While opposed by patient advocacy groups, it did have support among other healthcare organizations, including the American Medical Association.
The nation’s largest physician-owned malpractice insurer, the Doctors Company, doesn’t see any ethical issues in how the legislation was crafted.
“I don’t think any of us would want to live in a society where all laws are imposed by regulators, a judge, a congress, a president,” said Richard E. Anderson, the company’s chairman and chief executive. “We want to live in a society where the laws meet the needs of those they are meant to govern. Ideally, it should be a collaborative process in the context of the overall national interest.”
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John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.