Middleton acknowledged that his plan could draw opposition from doctors groups that endorsed the bill. But his strategy ultimately would provide more money to doctors, Middleton said, because the federal government matches money spent by the state on Medicaid.
Middleton, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said he would like to see any new initiatives on medical malpractice rolled into one bill to make the process more manageable.
Sen. Andrew P. Harris, left, listens as Sen. J. Lowell Stoltzfus discusses an amendment to the malpractice bill passed in a special session last month.
(Gail Burton -- AP)
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Ehrlich is hoping that lawmakers will be more receptive to some of his ideas than they were in the special session. Most are designed to curb the amount of money available to plaintiffs in malpractice cases for medical expenses and lost wages.
Among those provisions is one that would require payments to be made to plaintiffs in installments rather than a lump sum. Insurers said doing that would help manage their costs, but lawyers argued that such provisions undermine victims' discretion in coping with their injuries.
Other measures sought by Ehrlich would further tighten restrictions just approved by the legislature. The bill, for example, cut damages available to plaintiffs for pain and suffering in wrongful death cases from about $1.6 million to $812,500. Ehrlich's bill would lower the amount to $500,000.
Some of the proposals Zirkin is pushing in the House mirror those of Ehrlich. Others, Zirkin said, are more creative.
One bill, for example, calls for medical malpractice cases to be considered by a panel of medical experts before they could go before a jury. Both sides would have strong incentives to accept the panel's decision rather than engage in a more costly trial, Zirkin said.
Del. John A. Hurson (D-Montgomery), a key negotiator on the bill that passed during the special session, said he doubts that major new initiatives on medical malpractice will make it through in coming months. "But there may be some limited things that can be done," he said.
