The U.S. Senate voted 49-48 to deny
President George W. Bush another victory on health-care policy by
blocking legislation to limit medical malpractice lawsuits and
jury awards to injured patients.
Doctors, nursing homes, health plans such as Aetna Inc. and
hospital owners such as Health Management Associates Inc. support
the bill, saying it will lower premiums charged by malpractice
insurers such as FPIC Insurance Group Inc. and ProAssurance Corp.
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“A lot of these are frivolous lawsuits,” said Senator John
Ensign, a Nevada Republican. “In our legislation, we are trying
to bring some balance back to the system.”
The House and Senate each passed versions of Medicare
overhaul legislation last month that would deliver on a Bush
promise to help the elderly afford prescription drugs. Bush had
told the American Medical Association that he wanted to sign a
malpractice bill this year and said today he was “disappointed”
by the Senate vote.
The Senate malpractice measure would cap awards for damages
such as pain and suffering at $250,000, unless states set their
own limits. The bill doesn’t limit compensation for lost wages,
medical care and other monetary damages. The legislation would
also reduce liability for medical-device manufacturers and
drugmakers.
Bush said earlier this year that big punitive awards are
adding more than $28 billion a year to medical costs. The U.S.
spent $1.4 trillion on health care in 2001.
“The nation’s medical liability system is badly broken,”
Bush said in a statement today. “The medical liability crisis is driving good doctors out of medicine” because of the high cost of malpractice insurance.
Republicans said they forced today’s vote to hold Democrats
accountable for what they say is a legal environment that pushes
up health-care costs.
“We’re putting the vote forward so we can turn the heat up
on the senators at home,” said Rick Santorum, the No. 3
Republican in the Senate.
Republicans needed 60 votes to end debate on the bill, which
would have allowed the Senate to decide whether to amend and then
approve or reject the legislation, which was brought to the floor
without going through a committee.
Trial lawyers, one of Washington’s largest lobbying groups,
have said the House-approved measure benefits insurance companies
at victims’ expense. Democrats have criticized the bill, saying it
doesn’t ensure that malpractice insurance premiums will fall.
“We’re very concerned about insurance premiums,” Senate
Minority Leader Thomas Daschle told reporters in Washington yesterday. “They ought to be addressed. There are ways with which to address this exponential increase that we’ve seen in premium
costs. But this isn’t the way to do it.”
Senator John Edwards, a Democratic presidential candidate and
former trial lawyer, said he would support a curb on frivolous
lawsuits if what he called “price gouging” by insurers was
curtailed.
“We shouldn’t pad insurance company profits and hurt people
who already have suffered immensely,” said the North Carolina
lawmaker, who voted against ending debate.
Bloomberg News
