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After the Elections: Medical Liability
Insurance Crisis Remains a Top Priority in Ohio
As the 125th General
Assembly prepares recess for the final time and the newly elected and
re-elected Ohio Supreme Court justices elected by voters this month
settle in for a new term, the medical liability insurance crisis remains
a hot topic. The General Assembly is working to finalize related
legislation before recessing and several pieces of previously enacted
legislation may be working their way to the state supreme court.
Crisis More Than Campaign Platform
With a trial attorney running for vice president and 20 states in a
medical liability insurance crisis, the med mal issue gained public
attention and generated debate during this year’s elections. The
elections are over, but a recount is not needed to know this issue
remains vital to health care and the economy in Ohio. OHA and Ohio State
Medical Association (OSMA) polls this month showed 60 percent of likely
voters, and 75 percent of health care workers, in Ohio consider the
medical liability insurance situation serious and important to them and
their families.
Other crisis states are
experiencing the same trends as Ohio: physicians retiring early,
reducing services and leaving the state. Nearly 53 percent of physicians
in rural Florida surveyed in 2003 said they had decreased or eliminated
health care services because of the average 93 percent annual increase
in malpractice premiums.
Through a devastating
ripple effect, this crisis also damages the overall economic health of
the state. A recent study in Maryland found the state lost $171 million
in business sales this year due to the crisis and will lose $295 million
next year without reform. The crisis also cost the state 1,850 jobs this
year and will take more than 3,000 jobs in 2005.
Legislation on Deck
During Lame Duck
One of the more controversial pieces of legislation the General Assembly
may pass during the lame duck session this fall is OHA-supported Senate
Bill 80, a business tort reform bill that would cap non-economic damages
in product liability cases and cap awards for punitive damages.
Sponsored by Sen. Steve Stivers (R-Columbus), SB80 is now part of House
Bill 350, which passed the Senate and is currently under debate in the
House Judiciary Committee. If the Legislature passes a version of the
legislation this fall, the law may join the queue of cases awaiting the
Ohio Supreme Court’s final say including legislation placing similar
caps on damages in medical malpractice lawsuits.
Several other bills also
remain on the docket for the last few months of the 125th General
Assembly. House Bill 238 would establish and finance a patient
compensation fund to pay for catastrophic medical malpractice judgments
and settlements, and Senate Bill 204 would put a one-year halt on
increases in med mal insurance premiums and declare an emergency. OHA
has concerns about the funding for HB 238 and opposes SB 204, citing the
instability it would create in the market. View the progress of
OHA-monitored legislation at
www.ohanet.org/advocacy/state/ under “Currently Tracked
Legislation.”
The Buck Stops Here
Positive legislative change starts with the General Assembly, but
whether new laws remain on the books relies ultimately on the state’s
supreme court. The balance of the court depended on this year’s
elections, with four of seven supreme court seats up for election. In a
Republican sweep, Ohioans re-elected Chief Justice Thomas Moyer and
elected Appellate Judge Judith Lanzinger and Justice Terrence O’Donnell
to the state’s highest court. All three candidates were endorsed earlier
this year by Friends of Ohio Hospitals, OHA’s political action
committee. Justice Paul Pfeifer, who was unopposed in his bid for
re-election, also maintains his seat on the court, bringing a 6-1
Republican majority, and a 5-2 non-activist philosophical majority, to
the court.
Med Mal Laws Work Their Way to the Final
Gavel
The state supreme court now in place will likely review various existing
laws with an impact on the medical malpractice insurance environment in
Ohio. Legislation enacted last year limits contingency fees for personal
injury lawyers and caps non-economic damages in malpractice lawsuits.
Several challenges to the caps have been filed in Ohio courts and will
ultimately work their way up to the Ohio Supreme Court for review. State
supreme courts in Utah and Wisconsin recently upheld caps and voters in
Nevada rejected two proposals that would have reversed limits on
non-economic damages.
The new court may be
called upon to consider similar legislation, making final rulings on
laws capping damages, linking liability to actual responsibility and
modernizing peer review committees.
More information on
the medical liability insurance environment in Ohio is available online
at
www.ohanet.org/med-mal/. To learn more about the supreme court’s
role in this issue, visit
www.AskYourDoctorOhio.com. Ohio’s health care community thanks the
nearly 800,000 additional voters who turned out for this year’s
election, especially those who cast their votes for the Ohio Supreme
Court.
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