Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-Cost, Timely Healthcare (Health) Act of 2004 05122004
HELP EFFICIENT, ACCESSIBLE, LOW-COST, TIMELY HEALTHCARE (HEALTH) ACT OF 2004 -- (House of Representatives - May 12, 2004)
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 638, I call up the bill (H.R. 4280) to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system, and ask for its immediate consideration.
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Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Cox), the coauthor of this bill.
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Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes.
This bill is on the floor for one reason and one reason alone. That reason is that across this country there is a crisis. The crisis is that the cost of medical malpractice insurance is so expensive that trauma centers have to close, that obstetricians cannot deliver babies anymore, that neurosurgeons cannot preserve lives, that orthopedic surgeons cannot do what they are supposed to do. It is a crisis. It also so happens that if this bill is passed, it will, according to the CBO, reduce the cost of medical malpractice insurance by 25 percent which will go a long way to solving that crisis.
It also has some side benefits. By making the cost of medical malpractice insurance less expensive, it makes the cost of health care less expensive which means that more employers can offer more of their employees insurance.
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In fact, according to the CBO, 3.9 million Americans who do not have health care today would get health care just because we passed this bill. We ought to do it. Another side benefit, according to the CBO, is that because these costs are built into the costs of Medicaid and Medicare, we would save $15 million in those programs over the next 10 years, which we could apply to real important health care needs.
The gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) has said we are passing this bill on the floor, it is never going to pass in the Senate. This bill went to the Senate and Majority Leader Frist made a motion to consider the bill, and the Democrats objected to the consideration of the bill, to even having the debate. And then when it came time to vote on whether to have that debate, the Democrats voted no, we do not want to even debate this bill. So one can debate the fine points. One can say I have a better way to solve this problem or another Senator can say I do not like the cap here or I do not like this aspect of it. The most deliberative body on the face of the Earth is supposed to come to the floor of the Senate with their ideas, with their amendments, and engage in a debate. Instead, all that they have done is obstruct.
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Mr. GREENWOOD. I yield to the gentleman from Arizona.
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Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Pennsylvania is recognized for 2 minutes.
Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I would like to read from two letters. The first is from Engel, Smith & Associates, an obstetrics and gynecology practice, a letter written to their patients.
"It is with great sadness that we are writing to inform you of the plan to close in its present configuration the Engle, Smith & Associates obstetrics and gynecology practice. We have diligently tried over the past several months to find an alternative solution as we struggle with this decision. Unfortunately, the practice environment for physicians in our specialty has become so difficult that we have no choice but to dramatically change the way in which we provide care.
"We, like many of our colleagues in high-risk specialties such as obstetrics, have a crisis situation because our malpractice insurance premiums have more than doubled in the past 2 years. These increases are being driven primarily by skyrocketing jury awards in Pennsylvania, which have been forcing both insurance companies and physicians out of business."
Here is the impact on patients, a letter to me.
"I am a Pennsylvania native. I was born and raised in the Philadelphia area, an area that used to be known for excellent medical care. Eight months ago, I again found a wonderful OB-GYN office. The doctors are wonderful, respectful and well-educated and overall just great. They delivered my beautiful baby girl for me, and I could not have been happier with their care. I referred my sister, who is currently pregnant and due in a few short weeks. She too, is satisfied with them.
"Two weeks ago we were outraged to discover that they were closing the doors at the end of May 2002. My sister, who has been going to their office for all her prenatal care visits, cannot even have her after-delivery exam by the doctor who delivers her first child. I will not be able to return to them for subsequent health care or even normal GYN care.
"This is an outrage. It is also the second physician's office I have been to in the last couple of years that has been forced to close due to medical liability costs. Another office that I was aware of closed as well for the same reason. I cannot even switch to see them, because they no longer exist within our State. I do not know who I can go to even now. No other OB-GYN physicians practice in my area anymore."
Mr. Speaker, this is the face of the medical malpractice crisis. This is the bill that will resolve that crisis. We believe that this legislation will solve the crisis in the near term for malpractice insurers, for doctors and for patients, and, in the long run, for 3.9 million Americans, give them health care that they do not have today.
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Mr. GREENWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
A recorded vote was ordered.