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HON. RON PAUL OF TEXAS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 27, 2003
“Negative Outcomes” Insurance – A Free-Market Approach to the Medical Malpractice
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce the Freedom from
Unnecessary Litigation Act. As its title suggests, this bill provides an effective
means of ensuring that those harmed during medical treatment receive fair
compensation while reducing the burden of costly malpractice litigation on the
health care system. This bill achieves its goal by providing a tax credit for
“negative outcomes” insurance purchased before medical treatment. The insurance
will provide compensation for any negative outcomes of the medical
treatment. Patients can receive this insurance without having to go through
lengthy litigation and without having to give away a large portion of their
award to a trial lawyer.
2003 Ron Paul 39:1
Relying on negative outcomes insurance instead of litigation will also reduce the costs imposed on physicians, other health care providers, and hospitals by
malpractice litigation. The Freedom from Unnecessary Litigation Act also promotes
effective solutions to the malpractice crisis by making malpractice awards
obtained through binding, voluntary arbitration tax-free.
2003 Ron Paul 39:2
The malpractice crisis has contributed to the closing of a maternity ward in Philadelphia and a trauma center in Nevada. Meanwhile, earlier this
year, surgeons in West Virginia walked off the job to protest increasing
liability rates. These are a few of the examples of how access to quality health
care is jeopardized by the epidemic of large (and medically questionable)
malpractice awards, and the resulting increase in insurance rates.
2003 Ron Paul 39:3
As is typical of Washington, most of the proposed solutions to the malpractice problem involve unconstitutional usurpations of areas best left to the
states. These solutions also ignore the root cause of the litigation crisis:
the shift away from treating the doctor-patient relationship as a contractual one
to viewing it as one governed by regulations imposed by insurance company
functionaries, politicians, government bureaucrats, and trial lawyers.
There is no reason why questions of the assessment of liability and compensation
cannot be determined by a private contractual agreement between physicians and
patients. The Freedom from Unnecessary Litigation Act is designed to
take a step toward resolving these problems through private contracts.
2003 Ron Paul 39:4
Using insurance, private contracts, and binding arbitration to resolve medical disputes benefits patients, who receive full compensation in a timelier
manner than under the current system. It also benefits physicians and
hospitals, which are relieved of the costs associated with litigation. Since it will not
cost as much to provide full compensation to an injured patient, these bills
should result in a reduction of malpractice premiums. The Freedom from
Unnecessary Litigation Act benefits everybody except those trial lawyers who profit
from the current system. I hope all my colleagues will help end the malpractice
crises while ensuring those harmed by medical injuries receive just
compensation by cosponsoring my Freedom from Unnecessary Litigation Act.
Note:
Chapter 39, which is dated March 27, 2003, is basically the same as Chapter 34, which was not posted in Ron Paul’s Congressional website, but appeared in Congressional Record of March 12, 2003, dated March 12, 2003.
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