opinion
Liability protection would ensure Medicare and Medicaid access
LETTER — Posted May 27, 2013
Regarding “Doctors win first safe harbor against ACA use in liability suits” (Article, April 15): We should applaud the Medical Assn. of Georgia’s work with the Georgia Trial Lawyers Assn. to win the first state-based safe harbor against liability from the ACA.
The law not only offers a pathway to other states to set liability protection in place for physicians from the Accountable Care Act, but also may provide a pathway to the tort reform left out of the ACA. While many practices are cutting back on the numbers of Medicare and Medicaid patients they will see and treat, I offer that tort and liability reform especially for physicians who continue to serve Medicare and Medicaid patients is long overdue.
Tort and liability relief, much like that already in place for military physicians who are also paid with federal funds, not only would provide protection for physicians following appropriate standards of care but also would provide a reasonable enticement for them to continue treating these very deserving groups.
— Clement P. Cotter Jr., MD, Alabaster, Ala.
