Political Quotes

“a national insurance crisis is ravaging the nation's essential health care system Medical professional liability insurance rates have skyrocketed, causing major insurers to drop coverage or raise premiums to unaffordable levels. Doctors and other health care providers have been forced to abandon patients and practices, particularly in high-risk specialties such as emergency medicine, neurology, and obstetrics and gynecology. Low-income neighborhoods and rural areas are being particularly hard hit. H.R. 4600 is, modeled after California's quarter-century old and highly successful health care litigation reforms (MICRA). MICRA was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown, and has proved immensely successful in increasing access to affordable medical care. Overall, according to data of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the rate of increase in medical professional liability premiums in California since MICRA was enacted in 1976 has been a very modest 167 percent, whereas the rest of the United States have experienced a 505 percent rate of increase. Economists have concluded that direct medical care litigation reforms--including caps on non-economic damage awards--generally reduce the growth of malpractice claims rates and insurance premiums, and reduce other stresses on doctors that may impair the quality of medical care.”