Protecting Access to Healthcare Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. BONAMICI. My amendment to H.R. 5 simply requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to submit a report to Congress detailing the effect that the tort reform provisions in this bill would have on health care premiums and delays the effective date of title I of the bill until that report is submitted.

For years, proponents of tort reform have tried to convince Americans that skyrocketing health care costs are entirely attributable to greedy plaintiffs and runaway jury awards. They recite anecdotes about doctors closing their practices, refusing to deliver babies or perform surgeries, for fear of being sued. But, Madam Chair, we should not be making Federal policy based on anecdotes.

If recent independent research is any indication, the report that the Secretary submits to Congress under this amendment is unlikely to find that the bill will have any meaningful effect on health care premiums. Recent analysis in States adopting restrictions similar to those in this bill has found no substantial impact on the consumer cost of health care, nor has access to health providers improved as a result.

Proponents of tort reform claim that capping damages will drive down the cost of medical malpractice insurance and that doctors will pass this savings along to patients. But 2 years ago, CBO found that malpractice insurance premiums, settlements, and awards account for just a tiny fraction of total health care expenditures. In 27 States where damages have been capped, the medical malpractice premiums are not lower on average than in States without caps.

My amendment asks for data on how this bill will affect the cost of health care for all Americans. Now, I want to be very clear--no one should be compensated for a frivolous lawsuit. But there are ways to address frivolous lawsuits without infringing on the rights of those who truly have been injured by medical mistakes.

What this bill does accomplish ought to frighten anyone who believes in the rights of States to govern themselves and the rights of individuals to be compensated for loss. This bill tramples over the rights of States to enact laws governing their own tort systems, and it severely restricts individuals' rights to be compensated for all the losses caused by health care providers.

In my home State of Oregon, for example, our supreme court has held that most statutory caps on noneconomic damages are unconstitutional. And Oregon is not alone. At least 12 other States have some constitutional prohibition against these types of restrictions. This bill not only overrides State laws and constitutions governing punitive and noneconomic damage awards; it also addresses States' statutes of limitations, pleading standards, attorney-fee provisions, and joint liability. But it does not stop there.

Although this bill is being presented as medical malpractice reform, it reaches far beyond professional malpractice against doctors to include product liability cases against drug and device manufacturers, bad-faith claims against HMOs and insurance companies, and negligence suits against nursing homes. And it would take away all of the State and individual rights in far-reaching areas of the health care industry without evidence that doing so will lower the premiums for Americans. This is an unwarranted intrusion in personal liberty and a giveaway to insurance companies. So we should know if it's going to lower health care premiums.

If this Congress is going to enact a sweeping bill nullifying longstanding State law and trampling on State constitutional rights, it's not too much to ask that we arm ourselves with the knowledge of how this will actually affect American families. This amendment simply requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to submit a report to Congress with that information before title I of this bill takes effect--a reasonable requirement.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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Ms. BONAMICI. Madam Chairman, this is a reasonable amendment. It simply asks that before we make sweeping Federal policy that overrides State and individual rights we know what we're getting in return.

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