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Support YOUR Medical Liability Reform Bill
NCCEP is pleased announce that Senator Brunstetter of Forsyth County has submitted a bill which seeks to limit liability for Emergency Medical Care. It is Senate Bill 821 and was filed on March 25. It is entitled "An Act to Provide the Public Greater Access to Emergency Medical Care by Providing Limited Protection from Liability to Those Providing Emergency Medical Care." Other sponsors include: Senator Boseman from Hanover County, Senator Forrester (Gaston, Iridell, and Lincoln Counties) and Senator Purcell (Anson, Richmond, Scotland and Stanley Counties). If you are one of their constituents please make an extra effort to thank them for their support.
All NCCEP members should contact their state senator to inform them of the bill and to urge their support. You can do this from this NCCEP web page: here is a copy of the bill and an ACEP.org link that will send you to your senator's information according to your zip code. You can to the same thing on the NC General Assembly home page www.ncga.state.nc.us by typing in your zip code. Email is a very effective way to make your voice heard. Do not assume that your senator is aware of this issue or has a set opinion on it. Feel free to use the following talking points when writing your senator:
- Emergency medical care is an essential public service with unique circumstances.
- Emergency physicians are mandated to treat anyone regardless of the nature of their condition.
- Emergency physicians treat everyone regardless of their ability to pay and shoulder a significant burden of uncompensated care.
- The emergency care system is a safety net that is beginning to fray.
- Emergency care is a high-risk endeavor with resulting increasing liability insurance rates.
- State liability laws should not act to discourage specialists from agreeing to provide on-call services when they are already in short supply.
- Several other states have recognized the unique nature of emergency care and have enacted special liability protection for emergency care providers.
Essentially the bill defines emergency medical care similarly to conditions under EMTALA related care. This would include care provided by emergency physicians and also consulting physicians who provide stabilizing care. It raises the standard of proof in a negligence claim to the level of willful and wanton misconduct. It is hoped that by limiting liability in the course of emergency care that we can help mitigate the increasing problem of specialists not wanting to take emergency call. Although it will not address the monetary issues related to being an on call specialist, the liability aspect is certainly a factor with respect to access to specialists for a patient with an emergency medical condition.
The bill recognizes that emergency physicians and their consultants provide care in a high risk, unpredictable setting with limited information and that decisions need to be made in a time limited fashion. Exposure to medical malpractice claims and escalating premiums are one of the elements that have driven specialists to resign from serving on hospital staffs or otherwise providing on-call coverage of emergency departments.
The North Carolina College of Emergency Physicians has worked hard with various groups in the state, including the North Carolina Medical Society to help develop support in the house of medicine for this type of legislation. Again, it is very important that we educate those we elected on the issues that directly affect our ability to practice.
NCCEP Against Proposed NC Bill to Eliminate Balance Billing by Hospital-Based Physicians
To all NCCEP members:
We are aware and are working to defeat the proposed bill introduced in the NC legislature on Thursday, March 1, 2007 to eliminate balance billing by hospital-based physicians (not just emergency physicians). Here is a link to the actual text of the bill: http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2007/Bills/House/HTML/H447v0.html.
NCCEP feels that this bill threatens the viability of the emergency medical system by hurting the viability of the professional services rendered in the ED by emergency physicians and on-call physicians....
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Medical Malpractice Reform
A Special Legislative Report from the NC General Assembly -- (9/18/03)
A summary report on Medical Malpractice reform in Florida from FCEP
The Medical Provider Insurance/Civil Justice Reform Act - SB802
See Members Only for the text, an executive summary, and a detailed analysis of (SB802).
Prudent Layperson Definition of Emergency Legislation