WASHINGTON, DC - The House Energy and Commerce Committee today approved the Help Efficient, Accessible, Low Cost, Timely Health Care (HEALTH) Act, H.R. 5, by a vote of 30 to 20.
The HEALTH Act, authored by Rep. Phil Gingrey, M.D. (R-GA), addresses the high cost of health care by reforming the current medical liability system. The current broken system places a $210 billion burden on our nation’s health system each year. In addition to the savings for patients and doctors, the Congressional Budget Office estimates comprehensive medical liability reforms, such as those included in H.R. 5, could reduce the federal deficit by $62 billion over ten years.
“After President Obama included medical liability reform in this year’s State of the Union, the committee sent a letter to the president promising to work with him on this important issue," said Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI). “Three months later, we still have not heard back so the time to act is now. The medical liability system in this country is not a system at all. It is a fragmented patchwork of policies that jeopardize access to care and impose added costs to the American people and their government, through Medicare and Medicaid. It is time to enact real, comprehensive reform so we can finally have a medical liability system that works for our nation’s patients and doctors."
