Protecting Access to Healthcare Act
Latest action. Read the second time. Placed on Senate legislative calendarThe list of measures reported out of committee and eligible for floor action. Being on the calendar is not a promise of a vote.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) under General Orders. Calendar No. 353.
Protecting Access to Healthcare Act - Title I: HEALTH Act - Help Efficient, Accessible, Low Cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2012 - (Sec. 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.
(Sec. 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. (Sec. 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. (Sec. 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. (Sec. 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.
(Sec. 107) Provides for periodic payments of future damage awards.
(Sec. 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.
The summary continues for 4 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House amended" stage on March 22, 2012. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on April 16, 2012: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 353.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 112th Congress (2011-12), 283 of the 10,618 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Phil Gingrey (R-GA) introduced it on January 24, 2011, and 134 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 2 Democrats, 132 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on January 24, 2011, 5708 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 5260 days ago, on April 16, 2012.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 112th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2013 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers