GovTrack’s Bill Summary
We don’t have a summary available yet.
H.R. 5 (112th): Protecting Access to Healthcare Act
- Introduced:
- Jan 24, 2011 (112th Congress, 2011–2013)
- Status:
- Died (Passed House)
- Sponsor
- Phil Gingrey
Representative for Georgia's 11th congressional district
- Party
- Republican
- Text
- Read Text »
- Last Updated
- Mar 29, 2012
- Length
- 38 pages
- Status
-
This bill was introduced in a previous session of Congress and was passed by the House on March 22, 2012 but was never passed by the Senate.
- Progress
-
Introduced Jan 24, 2011 Referred to Committee Jan 24, 2011 Reported by Committee Feb 16, 2011 Passed House Mar 22, 2012
- Full Title
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.
- Votes
-
Mar 22, 2012 11:45 a.m.
Agreed to 234/173Mar 22, 2012 11:50 a.m.
Failed 179/228Mar 22, 2012 11:56 a.m.
Agreed to 251/157Mar 22, 2012 12:29 p.m.
Failed 180/229Mar 22, 2012 12:36 p.m.
Passed 223/181
- Cosponsors
-
134 cosponsors (132R, 2D) (show)
- Committees
-
The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.
- Primary Source
-
THOMAS.gov (The Library of Congress)
GovTrack gets most information from THOMAS, which is updated generally one day after events occur. Activity since the last update may not be reflected here. Data comes via the congress project.
- Widget
- Citation
-
Click a format for a citation suggestion:
- Notes
-
H.R. stands for House of Representatives bill.
A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate in identical form and then be signed by the president to become law.
The bill’s title was written by its sponsor.
Library of Congress Summary
The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.
3/22/2012--Passed House amended.
Protecting Access to Healthcare Act -
Title
I
-
HEALTH Act
Help Efficient, Accessible, Low Cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2012 -
Section
101
-
Sets forth provisions regulating lawsuits for health care liability claims concerning the provision of health care goods or services or any medical product affecting interstate commerce.
Section
103
-
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.
Section
104
-
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.
Section
105
-
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.
Section
106
-
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.
Limits the liability of manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, and providers of medical products that comply with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards.
Section
107
-
Provides for periodic payments of future damage awards.
Section
110
-
Declares that this title does not:
(1) preempt or supersede any state or federal law that imposes greater procedural or substantive protections for health care providers or health care organizations from liability, loss, or damages than those provided by this title; or
(2) create a cause of action.
Declares that this title shall not be construed to preempt:
(1) any state law that specifies a particular monetary amount of compensatory or punitive damages that may be awarded in a health care lawsuit, or
(2) any defense available to a party in a health care lawsuit under any other provision of state or federal law.
Title
II
-
Repeal of Independent Payment Advisory Board
Medicare Decisions Accountability Act of 2012 -
Section
202
-
Repeals sections of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (and restores provisions of law amended by such sections) related to the establishment of an Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) to develop and submit detailed proposals to reduce the per capita rate of growth in Medicare spending.
Title
III
-
Health Care Safety Net Enhancement
Health Care Safety Net Enhancement Act of 2012 -
Section
302
-
Amends the Public Health Service Act to deem a hospital or an emergency department and a physician or physician group of such hospital or emergency department to be an employee of the Public Health Service for purposes of any civil action that may arise due to providing emergency and post-stabilization services on or after January 1, 2012.
Title
IV
-
Restoring the Application of Antitrust Laws to Health Sector Insurers
Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act of 2012 -
Section
402
-
Provides that nothing in the McCarran-Ferguson Act shall modify, impair, or supersede the operation of any of the antitrust laws with respect to the business of health insurance. Applies prohibitions against using unfair methods of competition to the business of health insurance without regard to whether such business is carried on for profit.
Title
V
-
Protections for Good Samaritan Health Professionals
Good Samaritan Health Professionals Act of 2012 -
Section
502
-
Amends the Public Health Service Act to provide that a health care professional shall not be liable under federal or state law for harm caused by any act or omission if:
(1) the professional is serving as a volunteer for purposes of responding to a disaster; and
(2) the act or omission occurs during the period of the disaster, in the professional's capacity as such a volunteer, and in a good faith belief that the individual being treated is in need of health care services.
Makes exceptions where:
(1) the harm was caused by an act or omission constituting willful or criminal misconduct, gross negligence, reckless misconduct, or a conscious flagrant indifference to the rights or safety of the individual harmed; or
(2) the professional rendered the health care services under the influence of intoxicating alcohol or an intoxicating drug.
Places on the plaintiff in any civil action or proceeding against a health care professional the burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that the limitation of liability under this title does not apply.
House Republican Conference Summary
The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.
No summary available.
House Democratic Caucus Summary
The House Democratic Caucus does not provide summaries of bills.
So, yes, we display the House Republican Conference’s summaries when available even if we do not have a Democratic summary available. That’s because we feel it is better to give you as much information as possible, even if we cannot provide every viewpoint.
We’ll be looking for a source of summaries from the other side in the meanwhile.
Use the comment space below for discussion of the merits of H.R. 5 (112th) with other GovTrack users.
comments powered by DisqusYour comments are not read by Congressional staff.