CASE STUDY: MICRA: A SUSTAINED ERA OF STABILITY

Challenge:

In 2022, California’s physicians were up against yet another expensive statewide ballot proposition battle that threatened to destroy current protections against frivolous litigation and drive-up health care costs.

Solution:

CMA worked with Californians Allied for Patient Protection, the Consumer Attorneys of California, and Nick Rowley—author and primary funder of the ballot measure—to end a decades-long political battle and usher in a new era of stability in malpractice liability. The opposing sides of the ballot measure campaign set aside their differences and discovered points of agreement. They understood that this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to safeguard California’s health care delivery system and the rights of injured patients. The result is a deal that promotes stable, affordable access to health care and stabilizes medical liability.

Outcome:

Following a bipartisan and nearly unanimous vote by the state Legislature, Governor Newsom signed the landmark agreement into law (AB 35), and in doing so finalized an achievement few thought was possible. As part of the agreement reflected in AB 35, proponents of the so-called Fairness for Injured Patients Act removed the initiative from the ballot.

Through AB 35, we have:

+ Ensured the predictability and affordability of medical liability insurance rates for decades to come, while providing a fair and reasonable increase to limits on non-economic damages.

+ Protected our health care delivery system from out-of-control medical litigation and runaway costs.

+ Preserved the underlying principles of MICRA, including:

■ Advance notice of a claim

■ One-year statute of limitations to file a case

■ Option of binding arbitration

■ Early offer of proof for making punitive damage allegations

■ Allowing other sources of compensation to be considered in award determinations

+ Established new discovery and evidentiary protections for all pre-litigation expressions of sympathy, regret, or benevolence, including statements of fault, by a health care provider to an injured patient or their family after an unforeseen outcome without fear that such statements or gestures will be used against them.