The Current State of Tort Reform

In this video exclusive for Physicians Practice, Michael Matray, host of Healthcare Matters, drills down on a pair of medical liability tort reform bills currently under consideration in the U.S. House of Representatives - the American Health Care Reform Act and the Protecting Access to Care Act. 

The American Health Care Reform Act focuses on the creation of a safe harbor from medical liability claims for healthcare providers who follow predetermined clinical practice guidelines. The Protecting Access to Care Act would establish a nationwide $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages in medical liability lawsuits.

In May, the Trump Administration released its budget proposal for the Department of Health and Human Services for fiscal year 2018, which assumes savings from the medical liability tort reforms contained in the American Health Care Reform Act and the Protecting Access to Care Act. Specifically, the Trump budget assumes $55 billion in savings to the federal government by capping noneconomic damages at $250,000, providing safe harbors for healthcare providers who follow predetermined clinical practice guidelines, creating a nationwide three-year statute of limitations and replacing the rule of joint and several liability with a fair-share rule, among others.

Sponsored by Cunningham Group, the medical malpractice insurance specialists, Healthcare Matters is an internet television program that explores the intersection of medicine and the law. In addition to hosting Healthcare Matters, Matray is the editor of Medical Liability Monitor, a monthly newsletter reporting on the medical professional liability insurance industry.