MICRA Update: Measure to Raise Medical Malpractice Cap Qualifies for November Ballot May 20, 2014 Advocacy, CMA, MICRA, News, Politics and Medicine CURES, Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act, MICRA, Troy and Alana Pack Patient Safety Act 0 The trial lawyer sponsored measure that would alter California law to increase the limits on medical malpractice compensation and mandate random drug testing for doctors has qualified for the November ballot. The measure is being called the “Troy and Alana Pack Patient Safety Act” and will be assigned a proposition number in early July. The new initiative calls for: Quadrupling MICRA’s essential cap on noneconomic damages to $1.1 million. If enacted, it has been estimated that lifting MICRA’s cap would increase health care costs by almost $10 billion per year in California, or approximately $1,000 per family of four. Requiring hospitals to conduct random drug and alcohol testing on physicians. Doctors also would be tested if they make preventable medical errors. Requiring physicians to consult a flawed state-run Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES) online database before prescribing medications to patients. SFMS and CMA have joined a broad coalition of over 1,000 groups – including physicians, community clinics, hospitals, nurses, organized labor, the Chamber of Commerce, Planned Parenthood, ACLU, and many others – to fight this misguided, deceptive initiative that will increase health costs, reduce health access, and place sensitive patient medical information at risk. For more information on the proposed initiative, and the damaging effects it would have on consumer privacy, please visit the “Stop Higher Health Care Costs/Protect Access to Care” website at www.StopHigherHealthCareCosts.com. Click here to view the comprehensive list of organizations participating in the coalition to protect access to care. Comments are closed.
