Under our federal government system, the states have historically had the responsibility for regulating insurance, including establishing the laws that govern damages in medical liability cases. Right now there are 50 different laws and 50 different sets of legal precedents governing medical liability insurance. Proponents of a federal liability reform measure argue that 50 different state laws combined with jury trials have caused medical insurance liability rates to skyrocket.

President Bush mentioned his support for medical liability insurance reform legislation in his State of the Union Address.

• One factor driving health insurance cost increases is the increasing cost of medical malpractice insurance.
• The increasing cost of liability insurance is causing doctors in some states to discontinue their practices or relocate, thereby affecting the quality of medical care received by employees.
• Passage of legislation to cap non-economic damages on medical lawsuits could lower the cost of medical liability insurance and help slow the increasing cost of health insurance.

AeA Position
The AeA Board of Directors, at its February 2003 meeting, approved the following resolution:

Whereas,

• The goal of AeA is to improve the value of health care benefits provided to our employees.
• In many states, the major factor contributing to the rising cost of health insurance is medical malpractice insurance.
• Medical malpractice suits do not improve the health care benefits of AeA member company employees.

Therefore, now it is resolved:

AeA will support legislation that caps punitive and non-economic damages for medical liability insurance.