[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 67 (Thursday, May 13, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H2996]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HEALTH CARE SECURITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, there really is a medical liability crisis in 
this country. Americans realize there is an urgent problem, but I think 
many are unsure of how to solve that problem.
  In my view, they need to look no farther than California for an 
answer as to what to do about this medical liability crisis, because in 
the early 1970s in California we faced a medical liability crisis very 
similar to the one that is spreading across the Nation now; and at that 
time, Governor Jerry Brown teamed up with members in the State Senate 
and members in the State Assembly and passed the Medical Injury 
Compensation Reform Act, which is referred to as MICRA.
  As health care costs hammer our citizens and limit the jobs 
available, it is imperative that the Nation follow California's example 
and bring structure and stability to the medical liability system.
  I say that because Californians enjoy a very secure competitive 
liability system. MICRA limited noneconomic damages to those injured, 
while ensuring full compensation for lost wages and for medical costs. 
Doctors have the benefit of some of the lowest medical liability 
premiums in the Nation. Since MICRA was enacted, medical liability 
premiums across this Nation have increased by 750 percent. In 
California, the increase is less than half that number, less than half 
the Nation's average. That means that we are doing something right, and 
let me give my colleagues some other facts.
  Disputes in California are settled 26 percent faster, and health care 
costs are 6 percent lower. That saves the patients in our State $6 
billion per year, and I think it speaks volumes as to our system's 
capabilities.
  Yesterday, the House passed H.R. 4280, and by doing so we took the 
California model, and we applied it to the entire Nation. This is about 
commonsense reform, reform we know will work because we have tried it.
  Health care costs have skyrocketed over the last decade. Advanced 
medical technology, advanced therapy, increased use of prescription 
drugs, all of these paired with inadequate cost containment have led to 
runaway prices; but, Mr. Speaker, I do not think we want to stand for 
this. I do not think my colleagues want to stand for this. It is not 
acceptable to stand by and watch our constituents unfairly carry the 
burden of a lacking system.
  Systems like MICRA allow for patients to recover from their health 
care costs. State hospital associations estimate that every hour of 
care requires an hour of paperwork. One hour of doctor-to-patient care 
surely does not require the cost of that hour plus an additional hour 
of an administrator filling out forms. It is inefficient, it is clumsy; 
and thankfully we will no longer stand for it because by a 30-plus 
margin we have moved in a strong, bipartisan way to take our country 
towards medical liability improvement.
  Employers, large and small, have struggled to keep their businesses 
up to the phenomenal speeds set by racing costs.

                              {time}  1745

  Finally, we have introduced a way for businesses to provide health 
coverage because they care about their employees, without compromising 
the integrity of their businesses and products that they produce.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues for passing this much-needed 
legislation to preserve access to quality health care costs, not just 
for Californians, but now for all Americans. We passed this legislation 
yesterday, the bill is currently pending in the Senate. It is my hope 
that the Senate will act expeditiously so that we can get this 
legislation to the President's desk quickly.

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