Jim Sensenbrenner: “Mr. Speaker, a national insurance crisis is ruining the Nation's essential health care system. Medical professional…”

“Mr. Speaker, a national insurance crisis is ruining the Nation's essential health care system. Medical professional liability insurance rates have soared, causing many insurers to either drop coverage or raise premiums to unaffordable levels. Doctors and other health care providers are being forced to abandon patients and practices, particularly in high-risk specialties such as emergency medicine and obstetrics and gynecology. This trend has had a particularly negative impact upon women, low-income neighborhoods and rural areas, and in medical schools large and small. When California faced a similar crisis over 25 years ago, Democratic Governor Jerry Brown, following the recommendation of the gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman), then chairman of the California Assembly's Select Committee on Medical Malpractice, enacted the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act, known as MICRA. MICRA's reforms include a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages, limits on the contingency fees lawyers can charge, and provisions that prevent double recoveries.”