Bart Stupak: “The majority of our doctors are hardworking and professional and serve their patients with the utmost ability. Only a…”

“The majority of our doctors are hardworking and professional and serve their patients with the utmost ability. Only a few doctors are bad actors who act in negligent or irresponsible ways. But the reality is that this bill will do nothing to help doctors. It does not address the high insurance rates or the plight of doctors. H.R. 5 is totally misguided. It does not address insurance costs for doctors. Instead, it caps meritorious lawsuits where a judge or jury has found for the victim. H.R. 5 puts a cap of $250,000 on noneconomic damages. Many dismiss noneconomic damages as pain and suffering and imply that they are less important than economic damages. The true definition of noneconomic damages are those damages that are real, permanent harms that cannot easily be quantified or measured in terms of money, such as blindness, physical disfigurement, loss of fertility, loss of a limb, loss of mobility, loss of life, or loss of a child. These are horrific losses; and under this bill, they are capped at $250,000. I offered an amendment to remove the antitrust exemption for insurance companies. If this bill is truly designed to address the insurance crisis in this country, how is it that it does not contain a single provision about insurance?”