CHICAGO — The American Medical Association (AMA) today applauded House passage of H.R. 1215, the “Protecting Access to Care Act of 2017.”
“For too long, our broken medical liability system has resulted in increased health care costs and slowed access to care for patients,” said AMA President David O. Barbe, M.D. “This legislation is an important step toward fixing that system — a step that reins in defensive medicine, reduces the growth of health care costs, and strikes the correct balance by promoting speedier resolutions of disputes — while maintaining an injured patient’s access to just compensation. By redirecting health care spending from defensive medicine, additional dollars can go to patient care, safety and quality improvements, and to health information technology systems that would help improve care and outcomes.”
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About the American Medical Association
The American Medical Association is the physicians’ powerful ally in patient care. As the only medical association that convenes 190+ state and specialty medical societies and other critical stakeholders, the AMA represents physicians with a unified voice to all key players in health care. The AMA leverages its strength by removing the obstacles that interfere with patient care, leading the charge to prevent chronic disease and confront public health crises and, driving the future of medicine to tackle the biggest challenges in health care.
