WASHINGTON – U.S. Reps. Joe Barton, R-Texas, ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Nathan Deal, R-Ga., ranking member of the committee's Health Subcommittee, today released this Dear Colleague about H.R. 3962 and its giveaway to trial lawyers.

Dear Colleague:

H.R. 3962, the Democrats’ “Affordable Health Care for America Act” should really be called:

A Stimulus Bill for Trial Lawyers
 
In August, town hall participants asked me why meaningful medical liability reform hadn’t been included in H.R. 3200. After all, it has been very successful in Texas in the few short years since enactment. One of the most honest answers came from former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean:

“The reason that tort reform is not in the bill is because the people that wrote it did not want to take on the trial lawyers in addition to everybody else they were taking on, and that is the plain and simple truth.”

Now we have H.R. 3962, which the Democrats have turned into a stimulus package for trial lawyers. How?

Section 2531: No Incentive Payments for States that Limit Attorneys’ Fees or Cap Damages

Democrats protect the trial lawyers’ wallets by barring states from receiving incentive payments if their medical liability laws limit attorneys’ fees or impose caps on damages, including non-economic damages.  Limiting fees and capping damages are two of the reasons doctors are pouring back into Texas after years of leaving the state because of outrageous malpractice insurance premiums.  Any provision that prevents states from limiting attorneys’ fees and capping damages is not reform; it is a special-interest giveaway.

Section 257: Authorizes State Attorneys General and Trial Lawyers to Sue Small Businesses

Democrats ensure that the trial lawyers will further fatten their wallets by authorizing state attorneys general to take action against small businesses and other employers for failure to comply with the byzantine new regulations created by the bill.  Since many State Attorneys General simply outsource these kinds of lawsuits to trial lawyers on a contingency basis, this will also provide a nifty new revenue stream at the expense of Main Street.

For more information please have your staff contact Clay Alspach (Congressman Barton) at 5-3641 or Blake Fulenwider (Congressman Deal) at 5-5211.

Respectfully,

Joe Barton                                                                   
Ranking Member                                                         
Energy and Commerce Committee                              

Nathan Deal
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Health