AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY: Support NC Senate Bill 33

Dear Friend,


The North Carolina General Assembly will begin debate this week on an important bill to lower health care costs in North Carolina by reforming Medical Liability laws in our state.

Americans for Prosperity supports these efforts to lower costs to taxpayers and patients by reforming our court system which favors greedy trial lawyers over doctors, nurses, and patients.

Medical tort reform has proven to be very successful in other states; they have seen an increase in the number of doctors and medical professionals as well as lower overall medical costs.

Americans for Prosperity will join with Texans for Lawsuit Reform to provide information to the public about the success of tort reform in the Lone Star State at a luncheon event on Wednesday, March 2 at noon at the Cardinal Club in downtown Raleigh. Please sign up today.

I ask you to contact your lawmakers today and ask them to support Senate Bill 33 which would:

1. Place a Reasonable limit on noneconomic damages.  Medical patients who are injured through negligence should be fully and fairly compensated for their injuries, including their economic losses. But damage awards for noneconomic losses are inherently subjective. Because such awards are arbitrary, they are unpredictable – which pushes up the cost of liability insurance. And higher insurance costs drive up medical expenses for everyone. A reasonable limit of $250,000 in noneconomic damages per patient would help ensure rational trial outcomes, reduce the cost of insurance, address defensive medicine, and promote patient access to health care, especially in rural areas and urban centers.

2. Create efficient division of medical liability trials into two phases. State law should require judges to divide, or “bifurcate,” medical liability trials into two phases upon the request of either party. Trials would be conducted more efficiently and juries could more properly weigh the separate issues of liability and damages under a sensible system that divides liability trials into two phases.

3. Require periodic payments of actual future economic damages.  North Carolina should join the 36 other states that allow periodic payment of future economic damages until death. This approach is more fair, more objective, and more methodical. Payment is guaranteed through a trust or an annuity, so there is no financial risk to the patient.

4. Provide for equitable alternatives for appeal bonds.  State law should allow defendant medical providers to post appeal bonds in the amount of the judgment or the maximum payment under their liability insurance, whichever is less. Either way, the plaintiff patient still would be assured of receiving payment of the required bond.

5. Create sensible standards for emergency care.  By law, emergency room doctors must treat every patient who shows up, facing life-and-death crises involving critically ill patients whose medical histories they don’t know. They often must make split-second decisions with limited information and few good options. Reflecting these realities, state law should require plaintiffs to prove a greater deviation from the standard of care for emergency treatment.

If you would like more information on why Americans for Prosperity supports Senate Bill 33, Click Here to read why we believe it will lower health care costs and improve access to care

AFP-North Carolina fully supports Senate Bill 33 and we hope you will ask your lawmaker to do so as well.

Sincerely,
Dallas Woodhouse, State Director
Americans for Prosperity – North Carolina


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