William F. Smith: “the motion to recommit must be defeated because it contains zero legal protections for doctors beyond current law, and…”

“the motion to recommit must be defeated because it contains zero legal protections for doctors beyond current law, and in some cases it actually makes the current crisis even worse. The Democratic alternative would require that before a health care lawsuit is filed, the claimant file an affidavit declaring that a qualified specialist has been consulted and has issued a written report that says the filing is meritorious. Mr. Speaker, the definition is so broad it is meaningless. The Democratic alternative also imposes another wasteful layer of bureaucracy on the health care system, mandatory mediation, which simply has no binding effect. The motion to recommit even makes the situation of OB/GYNs worse than it is today by allowing someone as old as 21 to file a lawsuit claiming the doctor who delivered them caused their injury 21 years before. The motion to recommit would subject OB/GYNs to even more nuisance suits and drive even more of them out of business. So the Conyers-Dingell substitute contains zero legal reforms and would make the current litigation crisis even worse; yet legal reforms are needed to solve the current crisis in medical liability insurance and increase access to health care. H.R. 5 is the only proven legislative solution. According to the Congressional Budget Office under the HEALTH Act, ``premiums for medical malpractice insurance ultimately would be an average of 25 to 30 percent below what they would be under current law.'' Mr.…”