Monday, November 02, 2009

Health Care in the U. S. A.
H.R. 3962
As I was conducting my weekly errands today it was my good fortune to listen to Talk Radio and hear a commentary about how Trial Lawyers are protected by H.R. 3962. I did look up the Health Care bill now under consideration and opened page 1432 to see for my self.
As I understood the Talk Radio Program, any State that limits the fees for attorneys will not be eligible for the "Special Incentives" of reimbursement in the proposed Health Care Bill.
I viewed the document at:
Pages 1431 and 1432 contain these words:

1431
•HR 3962 IH
1 SEC. 2531. MEDICAL LIABILITY ALTERNATIVES.
2 (a) INCENTIVE PAYMENTS FOR MEDICAL LIABILITY
3 REFORM.—
4 (1) IN GENERAL.—To the extent and in the
5 amounts made available in advance in appropriations
6 Acts, the Secretary shall make an incentive payment,
7 in an amount determined by the Secretary, to each
8 State that has an alternative medical liability law in
9 compliance with this section.
10 (2) DETERMINATION BY SECRETARY.—The
11 Secretary shall determine that a State has an alter12
native medical liability law in compliance with this
13 section if the Secretary is satisfied that—
14 (A) the State enacted the law after the
15 date of the enactment of this Act and is imple16
menting the law;
17 (B) the law is effective; and
18 (C) the contents of the law are in accord
19
ance with paragraph (4).
20 (3) CONSIDERATIONS FOR DETERMINING EF21
FECTIVENESS.—In determining whether an alter22
native medical liability law is effective under para23
graph (2)(B), the Secretary shall consider whether
24 the law—
VerDate Nov 24 2008 12:56 Oct 30, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 01431 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3962.IH H3962 rmajette on DSK29S0YB1PROD with BILLS
1432
•HR 3962 IH
1 (A) makes the medical liability system
2 more reliable through prevention of, or prompt
3 and fair resolution of, disputes;
4 (B) encourages the disclosure of health
5 care errors; and
6 (C) maintains access to affordable liability
7 insurance.
8 (4) CONTENTS OF ALTERNATIVE MEDICAL LI9
ABILITY LAW.—The contents of an alternative liabil10
ity law are in accordance with this paragraph if—
11 (A) the litigation alternatives contained in
12 the law consist of certificate of merit, early
13 offer, or both; and
14 (B) the law does not limit attorneys’ fees
15 or impose caps on damages.
16 (b) USE OF INCENTIVE PAYMENTS.—Amounts re17
ceived by a State as an incentive payment under this sec18
tion shall be used to improve health care in that State.
You may be better off visiting the site I referenced above to view these two pages. From what I heard and read States that enact "Tort Reform Limits" will not be able to receive "incentitives from the Federal Government.
Sounds like a punishment to me. I continue to be amazed by what I hear and also read about this proposal.
America, The Land of the Free!!!!! Oh, Really.

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