State Lawmakers Consider Medical Malpractice Reform | Georgia Public Broadcasting

ATLANTA — A group of state lawmakers is studying a state Senate bill that would overhaul Georgia’s medical malpractice system, with organizations such as the Medical Association of Georgia and the State Bar of Georgia lining up against it.

A Senate subcommittee heard testimony Tuesday from groups that oppose the legislation. It was the subcommittee’s second hearing on Senate Bill 141, also known as the “Patient Injury Act,” which would move medical malpractice claims out of the courts and into an administrative system overseen by a Patient Compensation Board within the Department of Community Health.

Earlier, lawmakers heard from health care administrators who have formed Patients for Fair Compensation, which is backing the bill. Those who oppose the measure say supporters are underestimating the costs and overstating the benefits of a patient compensation system.

“No other state has attempted such a drastic overhaul,” said former state Sen. Arthur “Skin” Edge, a lobbyist for MAG Mutual Insurance Company, which provides medical liability insurance for doctors in nine states including Georgia. “Under this bill you will have more claims, higher costs, more reporting, higher taxes and more bureaucracy.”

Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta and the bill’s sponsor, said he has received support from doctors who believe reforms are needed. He said the new system, which would be similar to the way worker’s compensation claims are handled, would reduce health care costs. The legislation, as written, says medical malpractice litigation is a “costly and protracted process” with delays to receiving compensation averaging five years.

“Doctors went into medicine to heal people, to treat people. The last thing a doctor wants to do is to go into litigation,” Beach said.

via State Lawmakers Consider Medical Malpractice Reform.