S. 1099 (112th): Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2011

Introduced:
May 26, 2011 (112th Congress, 2011–2013)
Sponsor:
Sen. Roy Blunt [R-MO]
Status:
Died (Referred to Committee)

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. S. stands for Senate bill.

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Status

This bill was introduced on May 26, 2011, in a previous session of Congress, but was not enacted.

Progress
Introduced May 26, 2011
Referred to Committee May 26, 2011
Cosponsors
2 cosponsors (2R) (show)
Committees

Senate Judiciary

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Full Title

A bill to improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system.

Summary

No summaries available.

Text

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Last updated May 26, 2011.
25 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

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Citation

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GovTrack’s Bill Summary

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Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

5/26/2011--Introduced.
Help Efficient, Accessible, Low Cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2011 - Sets conditions for lawsuits arising from health care liability claims regarding health care goods or services or any medical product affecting interstate commerce.
Sets a statute of limitations of three years after the date of manifestation of injury or one year after the claimant discovers the injury, with certain exceptions.
Limits noneconomic damages to $250,000.
Makes each party liable only for the amount of damages directly proportional to such party's percentage of responsibility.
Allows the court to restrict the payment of attorney contingency fees.
Limits the fees to a decreasing percentage based on the increasing value of the amount awarded.
Allows the introduction of collateral source benefits and the amount paid to secure such benefits as evidence.
Prohibits a provider of such benefits from recovering any amount from an award in a health care lawsuit involving injury or wrongful death.
Authorizes the award of punitive damages only where:
(1) it is proven by clear and convincing evidence that a person acted with malicious intent to injure the claimant or deliberately failed to avoid unnecessary injury the claimant was substantially certain to suffer; and
(2) compensatory damages are awarded.
Limits punitive damages to the greater of two times the amount of economic damages or $250,000.
Denies punitive damages in the case of products approved, cleared, or licensed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), or otherwise considered in compliance with FDA standards.
Provides for periodic payments of future damages.

House Republican Conference Summary

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No summary available.

House Democratic Caucus Summary

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The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

United States Code

The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)

Other Citations

  • 28 U.S.C. Chapter 171