Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Chairman, I just want to reemphasize again that, under this bill, awards are possible that far exceed the $250,000 cap in noneconomic damages. That's because under the economic damages provision, there is simply no cap. As a result of that, States like California and Texas, which have adopted reforms very similar to the reforms in this particular piece of legislation, there have been numerous awards of multimillion dollars awarded to individuals who have been injured. {time} 2040 So even though we had that $250,000 noneconomic cap, that is not an absolute cap on the awards that have been made. A minute ago, Dr. Gingrey mentioned that in California, for example, several years ago, I believe it was 2007, there was a $96 million award. And in the last year for which we have records, in 2010, there were awards, I think, for over $6 million, over $10 million, over $14 million. So an individual is able to be reimbursed for the costs and the injuries that that individual may have incurred. Mr. Chairman, I also want to say that America's medical liability system increases the cost of health care and decreases access to care as doctors abandon their practices and avoid high-risk specialties out of fear of being sued. Medical liability reform, this bill tonight will solve this problem.…”