Ed Markey: “this bill has one huge flaw that even its proponents concede: that the benefits, if any, flow directly to the insurance…”

“this bill has one huge flaw that even its proponents concede: that the benefits, if any, flow directly to the insurance companies, not to the doctors. Therefore, I tried to perfect this bill. During the Committee on Energy and Commerce markup, I offered an amendment to ensure that the savings from the bill's caps on damages for patients' pain and suffering would be passed along to the doctors in the form of reductions in their liability insurance premiums. Every Republican voted no. They each voted with the insurance industry. This bill deserves to be defeated, as long as there is no effective guarantee that savings from the bill's caps on damage will go not to doctors, but to the insurance industry. This bill claims to be a cure for the high cost of insurance premiums paid by doctors, but it is really just insurance for insurance companies. It is a public policy placebo that only offers the illusion of relief from sky-high insurance premiums, while pumping cash into the bottom line of insurance companies. Capping damages may save insurance companies money when their policyholders are sued, but the bill does not require insurers to pass along one cent of savings to the doctors so that they can stay practicing in local communities across this country.”