209

1 AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION HOUSE OF DELEGATES 2 3 Resolution: 209 4 (A-09) 5Introduced by: Illinois Delegation 6 7Subject: Health System and Litigation Reform 8 9Referred to: Reference Committee B 10 (Monica C. Wehby, MD, Chair) 11 12 13Whereas, Our American Medical Association is working actively to represent the physicians and 14patients throughout our nation in the debate on health system reform; and 15 16Whereas, The primary goals of this debate are to improve health care by extending affordable, 17essential health insurance to all Americans, improving patient access to physicians and related 18health care resources, and moderating the costs of care through prevention and early detection; 19and 20 21Whereas, A hostile medical litigation climate, left unchecked, could negate many of the quality 22improvements and savings promised by comprehensive health system reform; and 23 24Whereas, The AMA’s Prescription for Health System Reform cites medical liability reforms as a 25key cost-saving policy component that will reduce “defensive” medicine; and 26 27Whereas, Medical liability reform will also encourage physicians to continue and return to 28practice high-risk specialties, providing greater access to needed specialists; and 29 30Whereas, Several options exist for effective medical liability reforms, including potential 31transition to a Veterans’ Administration-style system of dispute resolution; adoption of a health 32courts model for hearing medical malpractice cases; a host of traditional, well-proven state tort 33reforms such as non-economic damages caps, certificates of merit, etc; along with other policy 34ideas; and 35 36Whereas, The Obama Administration has publicly indicated willingness to consider medical 37litigation reform as part of the larger challenge of improving the nation’s health system; therefore 38be it 39 40RESOLVED, That our American Medical Association press vigorously and creatively for 41inclusion of effective medical litigation reforms as part of the comprehensive federal health 42system/insurance reform debate now underway in Washington, DC (Directive to Take Action); 43and be it further 44 45RESOLVED, That our AMA consider and, as necessary, negotiate with federal policymakers on 46a wide range of litigation reform policy options to gain inclusion of a remedy in the health system 47reform package. These options might include traditional tort reforms, recovery limitations similar 48to those of the Veterans Administration (VA) system, demonstration/pilot programs on alternate 49dispute resolution systems such as the VA model and health courts, and/or other effective 50options to preserve patient access to care. (Directive to Take Action) 51 52Fiscal Note: Implement accordingly at estimated staff cost of $12,000. 53Received: 05/05/09