The HCLA and other physician organizations have petitioned members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to include medical liability reforms in their final report to Congress – a notion that was opposed this month on the editorial page of the New York Times.

The editorial stated that it was “not the job” of the supercommittee to include medical liability reforms in its deficit reduction report – to which the HCLA disagreed in a response to the editor:

"In response to your October 6 editorial, the Health Coalition on Liability and Access respectfully disagrees and believes it is the job of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to consider all avenues of cost savings in their recommendations to Congress, including medical liability reform.

"The “supercommittee” has a crucial opportunity to do something that preserves patient access to quality care and achieves billions of dollars in savings ($62.4 billion over 10 years according to the Congressional Budget Office).

"While this is not a cure-all for our nation’s budget woes, it’s certainly not “chump change” either. Clearly, the $1.2 trillion in cuts needed will not come from just one or two line items.

"Comprehensive medical liability reform is good for patients and a useful starting point worthy of inclusion in the Committee’s recommendations to Congress."

The HCLA and Protect Patients Now will continue to actively push for federal medical liability reforms at every opportunity in order to help reduce unnecessary health care spending and our national deficit, as well as to ensure all patients get the care they need, when they need it most. You can get involved in our grassroots efforts by clicking here and contacting your Member of Congress today.