The White House has made $25 million available in grants for states, localities and health systems to test new medical liability reform models.
According to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, as many as 98,000 Americans die every year from medical errors. "And though malpractice premiums themselves count for only a small percentage of total medical costs, many doctors report that they practice costly defensive medicine because they are fearful of lawsuits," she said.
At a press conference last Thursday, Sebelius said the grants will be used for the development, implementation and evaluation of four goals: patient safety and the reduction of preventable injuries; better communication between doctors and their patients; fair and timely patient compensation for medical injuries, while reducing the incidence of frivolous lawsuits; and reduced liability premiums.
"These goals are consistent with the principles identified by the Joint Commission and the Institutes of Medicine, and the goals that were contained in the legislation that President Obama as a senator introduced in 2005 with then-Sen. Hillary Clinton," Sebelius said.
Under President Barack Obama's order, the HHS is moving forward with the grant project immediately, Sebelius said. The HHS will post the official funding opportunity within 30 days on grants.gov.
Those seeking a grant will have 60 days to apply for two different kinds of grants – one-year planning grants of up to $300,000 that will help states, localities and health systems develop and conceptualize new patient safety and medical liability models; and demonstration grants for up to three years and $3 million that will help implement projects that are ready to go.
At the same time, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality will review current liability models throughout the United States to determine what works and doesn't work, Sebelius said.
The release of funds follows President Obama's Sept. 9 address on health reform before a joint session of Congress, during which he endorsed medical malpractice reform laws to lower healthcare costs. This aspect of health reform has been highly favored by Republicans.
"I don't believe malpractice reform is a silver bullet, but I've talked to enough doctors to know that defensive medicine may be contributing to unnecessary costs," Obama said. "So I'm proposing that we move forward on a range of ideas about how to put patient safety first and let doctors focus on practicing medicine. I know that the Bush administration considered authorizing demonstration projects in individual states to test these ideas."