Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-Cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2005

HELP EFFICIENT, ACCESSIBLE, LOW-COST, TIMELY HEALTHCARE (HEALTH) ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - July 28, 2005)

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Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding time to me.

Mr. Speaker, no one disputes that rising medical malpractice premiums are a major, major problem. Unfortunately this bill before us will do nothing to solve that problem. It would limit consumers' ability to hold negligent doctors, profit-driven HMOs, insurance companies, and prescription drug companies accountable.

The claim is made that excessive or frivolous lawsuits are the cause of rising premiums. The problem is that lawsuits affected by the bill are by definition not frivolous.

Where large damages are awarded, it is a jury that has found that the patient has been severely harmed, and, in fact, over the last 5 years, malpractice insurance payments to patients have actually gone down, and that while premiums continue to go up. Now, something is wrong with that ratio.

There is no evidence that capping the damages to an injured person because of malpractice is the way to solve this problem. It will not lower premiums. It will not even stabilize them. All this bill will do is to make very sure that as the malpractice insurers collect outrageous premiums, they will be able to continue to pay out even less to the patients who have actually been harmed. This will penalize innocent victims of medical negligence.

Furthermore, the bill goes far beyond lawsuits against doctors. It would also protect drug companies and HMOs from lawsuits filed by people injured because of their policies.

In 3 years of considering this issue, the majority has not presented a shred of evidence that drug companies need these protections. They are making billions of dollars in profits. If this bill becomes law, the ability of injured patients to hold negligent drug companies accountable would be dramatically limited. We have all seen the recent stories about Cox-2 inhibitors, other medications. So many have tragic outcomes. They highlight the fact that drugs may harm patients. Those studies expose how dangerous this bill can be. We should be helping doctors with malpractice insurance premiums. But this bill is not going to help doctors, and it will hurt patients.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote against this bill. Let us look for real solutions to rising medical malpractice premiums.

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