Connecticut is considering following New York”™s lead and implementing a “health court” system that would compensate patients for injuries resulting from medical errors. The initiative is an attempt to lessen the burden of medical malpractice lawsuits on the state”™s health care system.
The American Medical Association currently ranks Connecticut among the five most expensive states for doctors to secure malpractice insurance. In a survey earlier this year, doctors polled by the Connecticut State Medical Society cited insurance premiums as a major deterrent in recommending the state to colleagues as a place to practice medicine.
New York State Unified Court System recently scored $3 million in federal funding to set up medical malpractice arbitration panels in New York City that would negotiate legal settlements in lieu of litigating in the courts. The concept is akin to workers”™ compensation boards in Connecticut and other states that render judgments in an effort to keep court dockets clear for other cases.
A state panel recommended that Connecticut apply for funding under a federal program intended to help states evaluate alternatives to the current system of medical tort litigation. The Obama administration recently distributed $25 million to 13 states and health systems. The Connecticut panel did not specify whether the state would move ahead with the project on its own dime if unsuccessful in tapping funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Under the proposed system in Connecticut, physician practices and hospitals would have to provide relevant medical malpractice data to the Connecticut Insurance Department. Gov. M. Jodi Rell”™s administration had crafted a bill in this year”™s legislative session that would have expanded existing malpractice reporting requirements, while giving the state”™s insurance commissioner the ability to levy fines on entities that did not do so. The bill did not proceed to a vote.
“Right now, we have a half a loaf of bread,” said Thomas Sullivan, Connecticut”™s insurance commissioner, testifying on the bill earlier this year. “I need something to enforce the provisions of the proposal and sometimes a fine gets people”™s attention.”
Among other steps, the panel also says the state should enact legislation to allow opposing sides to split medical malpractice lawsuits into distinct proceedings that separately assess liability and damages in medical malpractice lawsuits.
Currently under Connecticut law, liability and damages are automatically considered together in most cases; while a judge can legally carve the two issues into separate cases, the panel indicated such motions are typically denied.
The panel said juries are often overwhelmed by evidence in medical malpractice cases, finding for a plaintiff without regard to the facts supporting the defendant”™s case.
The American Hospital Association has published a framework for medical liability reform that Connecticut might adopt, at least in part. The framework includes several components, including:
Ӣ civil claims for injuries during medical care would be handled through an administrative process;
Ӣ compensation would be provided for injuries that could have been avoided and that meet a minimum threshold of harm;
Ӣ patients would submit claims to a panel that would make decisions using explicit guidelines; and
Ӣ patients could appeal to other sources that might include an expert panel, administrative law judge, or the courts.
