Bush to Be Flexible on Lawsuit Cap In Effort to Pass
Patients' Rights Law
By: David Rogers
The Wall Street Journal, January 30, 2002
WASHINGTON -- Trying to strike a deal on a patients'
rights bill, the White House has signaled greater flexibility on proposed
caps that would limit the amounts health plans would have to pay
plaintiffs to compensate for pain and suffering when benefits are
improperly denied.
The new options were raised in talks with Sen. Edward
Kennedy (D., Mass.) to explore the possibility of a compromise that would
end years of fighting over when and where individuals may sue managed-care
health plans. One idea is a flexible cap reflecting the age of an injured
party; younger people, who might live longer with pain, would get bigger
awards.
In the past, the Bush administration has insisted on
a strict across-the-board cap. That stance has irritated Democrats,
especially because the White House puts no cap on economic damages, which
tend to favor wealthier plaintiffs with higher income potential.
The president began last year proposing a $500,000
cap on pain and suffering, then agreed to raise it to $1.5 million as part
of a compromise last August to stave off defeat in the House. Mr. Bush
could stand pat behind the House bill, which united his fellow
Republicans, but the lure of reaching a final compromise on patients'
rights attracts him.
"I ask Congress to join me this year to enact a
patients' bill of rights," Mr. Bush said in his State of the Union
address Tuesday evening.
But any deal requires bridging the gap with the
Democratic-controlled Senate, which has been much more aligned with
patients' rights advocates and adopted a bill in June that has no caps on
economic or noneconomic damages.
Sen. Kennedy, who worked with Mr. Bush on education
legislation and now chairs the Senate Health, Education and Labor
Committee, is crucial to any compromise, and Mr. Bush cited the
Massachusetts liberal as his "friend" last evening.
Intermittent staff talks began last year, chiefly
between Mr. Kennedy's top health aide, David Nexon, and Anne Phelps, a top
White House health aide. The cast has expanded to include Speaker Dennis
Hastert's office. Recently, Mr. Kennedy and Nicholas Calio, the chief
White House lobbyist, have talked several times directly on the issue. Mr.
Kennedy would have to sell an agreement to fellow Democrats, but he and
the president -- heirs to wealth and political tradition -- seem to almost
relish the discomfort they can cause followers by negotiating.
"We've had discussions with the White House
about a number of items," Mr. Kennedy said. "I'm interested in
getting a patients' bill of rights, hopefully this year."
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