Michael Burgess: “this weekend on Saturday, Texas, my home State, passed a constitutional amendment to limit and cap noneconomic damages…”

“this weekend on Saturday, Texas, my home State, passed a constitutional amendment to limit and cap noneconomic damages in medical liability lawsuits. Texas now, as a result of passing this bold constitutional amendment, will enjoy lower liability premiums. In fact, my old insurer of record, Texas Medical Liability Trust, announced they would reduce premiums by 10 to 12 percent beginning this week. Texas will control costs in medical care by this bold legislation and keep themselves competitive in the world market. One might ask, Mr. Speaker, do we then still need H.R. 5, the bill that was passed by this House that now languishes in the other body? I would submit that very strongly we do. Mr. Speaker, this summer I was in Nome, Alaska, and talked to the medical staff at the hospital there, a medical staff that cannot hire an anesthesiologist because they cannot afford the liability premium. This means that doctors who practice obstetrics have to send their patients to Anchorage for cesarean sections, a 90-minute plane ride, and I am given to understand the weather in Nome, Alaska, is sometimes bad. At Columbia University in New York, they cannot attract good medical students into their residency program. In fact, I was told by their residency director they are taking applicants that they would not have even interviewed 5 years ago. Mr. Speaker, it is time for the Senate to pick up and pass limits on medical liability.”