THE MEDICAL malpractice special session in Annapolis seemed destined from the outset to end in a veto-override showdown -- and so it has. The Democrats have passed a bill intended to lower doctors' soaring insurance rates in part by taxing HMOs, a remedy that Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) has said all along would invite his veto. But the legislative leadership believes it has the votes to override the governor, and Mr. Ehrlich acknowledged yesterday that he would have trouble stopping them. That's not a pretty outcome, but given the urgency and seriousness of the malpractice problem, it's better than no result at all.
Mr. Ehrlich, who summoned the lawmakers and the supporting cast needed for a General Assembly session to the capital only weeks before their regular session was to begin, knew that the Democrats would insist on specific funding to keep doctors' premiums in check. But in keeping with his nothing-that-smacks-of-a-tax credo, the governor rigidly opposed the Democrats' No. 1 choice for revenue: lifting the state tax exemption granted to HMOs more than 30 years ago.
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That proved enough to unite House and Senate Democrats, who ignored last-minute suggestions from the governor and Republican allies to spare the HMOs and tap the state's cigarette redemption fund instead. That might have brought bipartisan harmony, but the Democrats had the muscle to stand pat and produce a bill that would offer doctors and other health care providers immediate relief from a 33 percent increase in malpractice insurance rates set to take effect tomorrow.
The legislation is no long-range solution, but neither is it the flop that Mr. Ehrlich is calling it. The measure would provide $40.7 million in the first year to limit increases in doctors' insurance fees to 5 percent; that's deliverance for doctors who were considering bailing out of their practices. The bill also would lower the cap on damages for "pain and suffering" in wrongful-death cases from about $1.6 million to $812,500, and it would freeze those damages in other malpractice cases at $650,000 for the next four years. Current law calls for a $15,000 annual increase in the cap. Other improvements -- many of them supported by the governor -- would allow a court to call a neutral witness to testify about future medical expenses and loss of earnings, tighten qualifications for expert medical witnesses and create a people's insurance counsel to advocate for consumers against insurance companies.
Mr. Ehrlich said he plans to introduce a bill in the regular session calling for still more legal changes. That's fine, and something good may come of it. But as Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) cautioned yesterday, there may be little appetite for revisiting the subject. Once again, the governor has missed his chance to strike a constructive deal with the legislative majority.
