HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 180        FILED ON: 1/8/2013

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1024

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

William C. Galvin

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act to encourage quality reviews and reduce costs in health care.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 180        FILED ON: 1/8/2013

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1024

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Thirteen

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An Act to encourage quality reviews and reduce costs in health care.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

Section (1)

Chapter 111 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting at the end of section 204 the following :

(f) The provisions of this section shall apply to any committee formed by an individual health care provider, physician group practice, licensed health care facility or any combination thereof to perform the duties or functions of medical peer review as set forth in section one of this chapter,  notwithstanding the fact that the formation of the committee is not required by law or regulation or that the individual, group or facility is not solely affiliated with a public hospital or licensed hospital or nursing home or health maintenance organization.

Section 2

Chapter 231: Section 60K of the General Laws as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition is

hereby amended by its deletion and replacement with the following:

Section 60K. In any action for malpractice, negligence, error, omission, mistake or unauthorized rendering of professional services against a provider of health care, in which a verdict is rendered or a finding made or an order for judgment made for pecuniary damages for personal injuries to the plaintiff or for consequential damages, there shall be added by the clerk of the court to the amount of damages interest thereon, at a rate to be determined as set forth below rather than the rate specified in section 6B of chapter 231, from the date of the commencement of the action even though such interest brings the amount of the verdict or finding beyond the maximum liability imposed by law. For all actions commenced after the effective date of this act, the rate of interest to be applied by the clerk shall be at a rate equal to the weekly average 1-year constant maturity Treasury yield plus 2 per cent, as published by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for the calendar week preceding the date of judgment. At no point shall the rate of interest established by this section exceed the rate of interest set forth in said section 6B of chapter 231.

Section 3

Chapter 231: Section 60 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, is

hereby amended at the end thereof with the addition of the following new section:

Section 60  L:

In any action for malpractice, negligence, error, omission, mistake or unauthorized rendering of

professional services, against a provider of health care, the plaintiff  cannot recover for loss of an

opportunity to survive or an opportunity to achieve a better result unless the opportunity was

greater than 50%. In addition the plaintiff shall have the burden of proving the following:

(1) The recognized standard of acceptable professional practice in the profession and the

specialty thereof, if any, that the defendant practices in the community in which he practices or

in a similar community at the time the alleged injury or wrongful action occurred;

(2)  That the defendant acted with less than or failed to act with ordinary and reasonable care in

accordance with such standard; and

(3) As a direct and proximate result of the defendant's negligent act or omission, the plaintiff

ffered injuries which would not otherwise have occurred.

(4) The plaintiff  was a patient of the defendant  and had a professional relationship to the

defendant which created a duty of care on the defendant’s part or  where the plaintiff is  a

reasonably identifiable victim of the patient of a defendant psychotherapist to whom the patient

communicated a serious threat of physical violence against the plaintiff.

Section 4

Chapter 176 D of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition,  is hereby

amended by the addition of the following new section:

Section 15

No insurance contract shall be construed to include punitive, exemplary, or multiple damages,

unless it expressly includes such damages.