The American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living issued a statement about the U.S. Senate’s rejection of the Medical Care Access Protection Act, a bill that would have implemented health care liability reforms.
Long term care providers have had to reduce patients’ access to certain services because of the high costs of medical liability insurance caused by expensive litigation. The Medical Care Access Protection Act (PDF) was designed to reform the system by reducing punitive damages, attorneys’ fees, etc., while still protecting patients.
From the statement:
“We will continue to work with the Bush Administration and members of the U.S. Senate and House to pass a bill to help stop the problem of resources being directed away from patient care to pay for higher lawsuit costs. This is negatively impacting our ability to sustain nursing home care quality gains, and we regret Senate supporters were unable to muster sufficient backing to pass the Ensign bill.”
Also see Business groups to keep pushing malpractice reform.
