Health Coalition on Liability and Access

POLL SHOWS AMERICANS WANT CONGRESS
TO SUPPORT COMPREHENSIVE
MEDICAL LIABILITY REFORM
Americans Believe Access to Health Care Threatened

By a huge margin, the American people want their elected representatives in Washington to support comprehensive medical liability reform, including reasonable limits on noneconomic damages, according to a national poll of 1,001 adults. Seventy-five percent of those polled indicated that they wanted their Senators and Representatives to support reform legislation, while only 14 percent opposed congressional action.

The National Quorum poll of 1,001 Americans was conducted in April 2006 for the Health Coalition on Liability and Access by Harris Interactive. The margin of error is +/- 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.

According to the poll, most Americans believe:

Elected Representatives Should Support Comprehensive Reforms: Three-quarters (75 percent) of the Americans surveyed said they wanted their elected representatives in Washington to support comprehensive medical liability reform. Only 14 percent opposed such reform.

Quality Health Case is At Risk: Seventy-four percent of the people surveyed believe their access to affordable, high-quality health care is threatened because medical liability costs are forcing doctors out of medicine.

Commonsense Limits on Non-Economic Damages and Attorneys Fees are the Solution: Americans strongly support (76 percent) full payment for lost wages and medical expenses and reasonable limits on awards for non-economic “pain and suffering.” Sixty-seven percent of those polled favor a law to limit the fees personal injury lawyers can take from an award or settlement.

Medical Lawsuits Drive Up Costs for Everyone: A strong majority (64 percent) of poll participants said medical liability lawsuits are one of the primarily reasons behind rising health care costs.

SUPPORT COMMON SENSE MEDICAL LIABILITY REFORM

2006 HCLA Poll (Fact Sheet).pdf (PDF)