Industry Responses To Medical Malpractice Reform In President Obama’s Health Care Plan

September 14, 2009

From the Disputing Blog of Karl Bayer, Victoria VanBuren, and Holly Hayes.

President Obama’s Plan on Health Care (discussed here and outlined here) includes a provision on medical malpractice reform that instructs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award medical malpractice demonstration grants to states funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Following are some responses from industry leaders:

American Hospital Association (AHA) President and CEO, Rich Umbdenstock, said, “We appreciate the President’s willingness to explore better alternatives to today’s medical liability system, and urge that even stronger actions be taken in this area to reign in excessive lawsuits that are currently driving physicians to practice defensive medicine and raise the cost of care for everyone.” (find the statement here)

American Medical Association (AMA) President, J. James Rohack, MD, comments, “President Obama recognized what physicians have long known – that medical liability reform is needed to bring down the cost of health care, and he is directing the Department of Health and Human Services to take action now. Recognizing the critical need for medical liability reform is an important step toward reducing unnecessary costs. Everyday physicians across the country are forced to consider the broken medical liability system when making decisions, resulting in defensive medicine that adds to unnecessary health costs. We cannot ignore this problem if health-system reform is going to address the growing cost of care.” (find the statement here)

American Nursing Association (ANA) President Rebecca Patton praised President Obama at his first public appearance on health care reform since addressing Congress for advocating for people who lack access to basic health care services in the nation’s “broken system” and for fighting for consumer protections in the health insurance market. (find the statement here)

Holly Hayes

Holly Hayes Bovio received a Masters in Health Administration (MHA) from Duke University and her undergraduate degree from Southern Methodist University. She holds a certificate in mediation from Texas State. Holly brings a strong hospital operations background to healthcare mediations including a focus on clinical quality. Holly managed her own consulting… MORE >