Government
Calif. governor stumps for liability reform
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Nov. 16, 2009
California's medical liability reforms have helped contain health care costs in the state and serve as a model for comprehensive health system reform efforts.
That's according to an Oct. 27 letter that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wrote to congressional leaders as the U.S. House was preparing to pass a health reform bill. California's liability reforms center on a $250,000 noneconomic damage cap, a concept that has been rejected repeatedly by federal lawmakers, including in the House-passed measure.
The 34-year-old California law has helped reduce physicians' liability insurance rates to some of the lowest in the nation and saved overall health care costs in the state, Schwarzenegger wrote. "These common-sense reforms should be included in national health reform efforts."
Consumer advocates fired back in a separate letter saying it was state insurance reforms, not caps, that improved California's liability climate. Consumer Watchdog disputed the use of "draconian limits on the legal rights of injured patients as a successful cost containment tool."
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2009/11/16/gvbf1116.htm.