For years, there has been an issue with ensuring access to quality health care in Missouri. While there are many reasons for this, one of the biggest issues is the need to lower the skyrocketing medical malpractice rates that are forcing doctors to not only pass along higher costs to their patients, but in some cases, to pack their bags and move to another state. It is my belief that by reinstating caps on non-economic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits, we can reduce the number of frivolously filed lawsuits.
Senate Bill 239 will help us do just that.
In Senate District 33, and many other rural areas in Missouri, there is a drastic need for increased access to health care, however, we must address the staggering increase in medical malpractice insurance premiums and we do this through tort reform.
The 2005 General Assembly sought out, and thought they had answered the issue. The 2005 measure lowered the cap on non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, from $579,000 to $350,000. The 2005 legislation did exactly what it was designed to do: the number of lawsuits decreased, medical malpractice insurance rates leveled out and stabilized, doctors stayed in Missouri, and victims still received compensation for damages.
However, a Missouri Supreme Court decision struck down a portion of the law following the ruling in Watts v. Cox Medical Centers. The ruling in that case said that the state’s cap on jury awards for non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases was unconstitutional, removing the limit. The decision put Missouri back at square one, and we’re now seeing more of the same frivolous lawsuits that spurred the Legislature to pass the 2005 law.
Senate Bill 239 will exclude old common law claims that have come about due to the performance or lack of performance of health care services by a provider that creates a statutory cause of action for damages. This legislation will reinstate the caps on non-economic damages in these medical malpractice lawsuits to $400,000 for personal injury and $700,000 for wrongful death.
Overall, what does this mean for patients and doctors? It means that Missourians will have better access to health care, especially in rural areas. Once the insurance premiums return to or level off to a rate that is more easily attainable by the physicians, fewer will leave the Show-Me State. This also means lower health care costs for patients. Ultimately, changes in the law will attract more insurance providers to offer competitively-priced liability insurance to doctors and care providers in Missouri.
I support helping people who have been injured in a medical situation, those people are facing hardships that are not their fault and could cost them and their families untold amounts of money, and pain that most of us will never fully understand. I do also support the setting of caps. I support this notion because it protects physicians and Missourians who all deserve and need access to health care. And it will reduce the number of uneeded lawsuits that our courts are bogged down with.
As always, I appreciate it when groups from around Missouri and from our community back home come to visit me at the Capitol. If you would like to arrange a time to come and visit me in Jefferson City, or if you ever have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact my Capitol office at (573) 751-1882. |
