Ensign pushes for cap on malpractice awards

Benjamin Grove

Tuesday, July 8, 2003 | 11:27 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., is spearheading an uphill assault to push for a $250,000 cap on jury awards in medical malpractice cases.

The issue, which has sparked a largely partisan battle in the Senate this week, is scheduled for a vote Wednesday and is not expected to pass -- this time.

Ensign said he wants to hold a vote anyway in large part to put political pressure on senators for a future vote. Several Democrats have criticized Ensign's effort as purely politically motivated.

"That's part of what politics is about is to find out where they stand on the issues," Ensign said today during an appearance on C-SPAN.

Ensign has acknowledged that Republican supporters of the bill probably do not have the 60 votes necessary to limit debate on the issue and proceed with a vote, so the issue is not likely to be settled this week. But Ensign vowed to continue rallying grass-roots groups nationwide behind his legislation.

Ensign is the author of a bill that would limit lawyer fees and cap jury awards at $250,000 for non-economic "pain and suffering" damages. Patients would be eligible to collect full economic damages. The House has already passed a similar bill. The initiative has President Bush's support.

Consumer groups and several patients injured by doctors planned to protest Ensign's bill at a rally today at the George Federal Building today.

Nevada has sometimes taken center stage in the national debate about medical malpractice. The crisis has forced many doctors from the state. Nevada state lawmakers called a special legislative session last year to approve reforms, but high insurance rates have not dropped much, doctors say.

Ensign said high insurance rates ultimately hurt patients by dramatically reducing their access to doctors, especially in high-risk areas, including obstetrics.

"This is by definition, a crisis," Ensign said during a Senate floor speech today.

Ensign and GOP leaders have said the skyrocketing cost of medical malpractice insurance is hurting the health care system nationwide. Doctors are limiting or even leaving their practices because they can't afford insurance, sometimes leaving patients without enough care, Ensign has said. At a Senate hearing in February, former Las Vegas obstetrician Shelby Wilbourn testified that high insurance rates ran him out of Nevada last year.

But Ensign's bill faces hurdles. It has no Democratic co-sponsors. Democrats generally object to Ensign using a parliamentary procedure to bring the bill straight to the Senate floor for a vote without a hearing in committee, where the legislation likely would be stalled. Ensign today blamed the powerful lawyers' lobby and Democratic allies for blocking the legislation.

Leading the charge against Ensign is Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., who said it is unfair to cap a jury award in cases where doctors mistakenly maim patients.

Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said there is no evidence that Ensign's bill would lower malpractice insurance rates and he objected to the legislation dictating tort reform to states.

Assistant Democratic Leader Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., agreed, and Reid reiterated that Democrats wanted the bill pass committee scrutiny. Reid praised Ensign for passionately trying to solve the problem, but added, "He and I tend to disagree on how to do it."

Reid has said that states should determine their own tort reform and he has said insurance companies, not lawyers, are at the root of the problem.

Reid has introduced legislation that would reform the insurance industry.