PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Protecting Access to Quality Care

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Raghunath Reddy, MD is the current president of the San Joaquin Medical Society and practices family medicine at Stockton Primary Care Medical Center As a physician, my primary goal is to protect my patients and provide quality medical care to those who need it most. Unfortunately, a measure heading to California’s November 2022 ballot could put patient access to care at risk and make it even more burdensome for physicians like you and I to treat and care for the patients we aim to serve.

The California Medical Association (CMA) has joined with a broad coalition of community clinics, hospitals, nurses, public safety, business, and labor groups to oppose a dangerous measure that will appear on the ballot this fall.

This costly ballot measure, bankrolled and written by an out-of-state trial lawyer, is an effort to eliminate the cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases and erase the current cap on fees lawyers can take in victim damage award cases. This dangerous proposal would pave the way for new rounds of frivolous lawsuits and send the price of health care soaring by hundreds of millions of dollars, according to the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office.

These costs would be born directly by patients and taxpayers and have a devastating effect on access to care for patients everywhere. It would hit particularly hard for patients in rural and other medically underserved communities.

At a time when our state is in the midst of an affordability crisis, now is the worst possible time to drive up health care costs and reduce access to care for those who need it most. That’s why I am asking you to join me and CMA in the campaign to defeat this measure in November.

The initiative, which does not yet have a ballot number, is bad for patients, taxpayers, and the entire health care system. There has never been a greater need for physicians to band together and use our collective voice to fight for our patients. This measure was written by one out-of-state trial lawyer trying to change state law so he and his law firm can profit. While proponents will talk a lot about how they are trying to protect patients, make no mistake – this measure is about padding their profits at the expense of patients and taxpayers. Our health laws should protect access to care and control costs for everyone, not be manipulated by a single attorney for his own profit.

Over the next several months, you’ll hear a lot of rhetoric from the proponents of the measure. Don’t be fooled. This is just the latest example of an out-of-state trial lawyer trying to fool the voters into thinking this is about something it’s not.

We need your help to educate yourselves, your patients, and your communities about the risk this measure poses for all of California. Please join me and CMA in this opportunity to rally together to protect the medical profession against forces that are simply trying to enrich themselves, regardless of who may be hurt by this regressive policy proposal.

For more information about how to get involved, please visit cmadocs.org/micra.

Thank you for your support!

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