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13th District
representatives say bills
lack elements of true tort reform
Several bills heard Monday
in the House of Representatives have good titles, but don’t achieve the
major changes needed to turn around the tort crisis putting Washington’s
health care system in jeopardy and hurting employers and families, said
13th District Reps. Janéa Holmquist, R-Moses Lake, and
Rep.
Bill Hinkle, R-Cle Elum.
Holmquist and Hinkle said while House Democrats have placed the bills
under a “tort reform” umbrella, they don’t fix the underlying problems
that are driving up liability insurance premiums, forcing doctors to
limit services or close their doors, and chasing employers away from
Washington.
“This is a real missed opportunity,” said Hinkle. “True tort reform,
like that passed by the Senate, would have helped control the rising
costs affecting consumers in everything from housing to health care.”
“Our rural communities are on the front lines of this crisis,” said
Holmquist. “Health care providers are limiting services or closing their
doors altogether. Citizens are being forced to travel far beyond their
communities to find care for themselves and their families. It’s
critical that we address tort reform and protect our rural health care
system before it’s too late.”
Last week the Republican-controlled Senate passed a more sweeping tort
reform package aimed at reining in out-of-control lawsuits in many
categories and industries, not just medical malpractice cases. It
included a $350,000 cap on pain-and-suffering awards, a key element left
out of House Democrats’ plan. Also left out of the Democrat plan are
help for local governments that often end up as the “deep pocket” in
lawsuits and a fix for skyrocketing construction liability costs that
builders say adds $10,000 - $15,000 to the price of every home.
Hinkle and Holmquist noted that the failure of Washington’s tort system
has become a hindrance to recruiting new employers to Washington. Last
week, full page ads in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today told
employers nationwide to reconsider locating or expanding their business
in Washington due to “…an escalating scarcity of access to healthcare
(that is) posing serious consequences that can by unhealthy for your
workforce and your bottom line.”
“Our tort system is an enormous weight around the neck of our struggling
economy,” Holmquist said. “At a time when we’re doing all we can to
bring jobs to Washington, the cost of liability exposure in our state is
driving employers away.”
“Citizens are ultimately paying the price for this problem in the form
of lower wages, fewer jobs, higher insurance premiums and fewer doctors
to choose from,” Hinkle said. “While this package of bills does no harm,
it’s important that the public not think we have addressed this critical
problem. We’ll need to go much farther to turn around our tort problem.”
# # #
For more information, contact:
John Handy, Assistant
Communications Director - (360) 786-5758
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