Medical-liability reform ranks as top concern in several states.Though Congress adjourned for the year without passing a measure to rein in to check the speed of, or cause to stop, by drawing the reins. to cause (a person) to slow down or cease some activity; - to rein in is used commonly of superiors in a chain of command, ordering a subordinate to moderate or cease some activity deemed excessive. See also: Rein Rein medical-liability insurance costs, a number of states, pushed by doctors' groups, are now seeking to take up the matter on their own. Florida, which passed a cap on noneconomic "pain and suffering" awards in jury trials earlier in the year, is gearing up to revisit the issue when legislators reconvene next year, while the president of the Kentucky Senate President of the Kentucky Senate is an office created by a 1992 amendment to the Constitution of Kentucky. The President of the Senate is the highest ranking officer of that body and presides over the Senate. has declared medical-malpractice reform the top issue of the 2004 legislative session. Arizona and Maryland have already broadcast their intent to take up the issue in their own statehouses early in 2004. Faced with double- and triple-digit premium increases, doctors and insurers have been lobbying for caps on noneconomic damages in jury trials, citing the example of California's 1975 Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act The Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) of 1975 was a California law designed lower medical malpractice premiums for Californians. Parts Micra Consists of the following parts: n.pr formerly known as the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, this agency researches the quality of medical care and health services. , California's MICRA caps have kept malpractice rate increases to 167% between 1975 and 2000, while malpractice premiums in the rest of the United States shot up 505% during that same period. The American Medical Association American Medical Association (AMA), professional physicians' organization (founded 1847). Its goals are to protect the interests of American physicians, advance public health, and support the growth of medical science. has long held that doctors are being driven out of their practices by the high cost of insurance. That assertion was recently backed by a report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Noun 1. Department of Health and Human Services - the United States federal department that administers all federal programs dealing with health and welfare; created in 1979 Health and Human Services, HHS . "Increasingly, Americans are at risk of not being able to find a doctor when they most need one," according to the HHS HHS Department of Health and Human Services. report. Liability Reform States now contemplating medical malpractice reform: Arizona Kentucky Maryland States that passed reform in 2003: Arkansas Florida Ohio Texas States with some form of jury-award limits on the books: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; A. M. Best Co. |
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