In addition, the legislation would limit contingency fees paid to plaintiffs' lawyers and establish a statute of limitations for the filing of lawsuits against emergency room physicians and ob/gyns.

Introduction of S. 2207 reflects a strategy by Republican leaders to force votes on malpractice reform by focusing legislation on specialties that have had particular problems getting medical malpractice insurance.

Legislation that would enact broad-based reforms stalled in the Senate when supporters were unable to muster the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster.

“We recognize that passing even a narrow reform bill like S. 2207 will be a challenge since most Democrats do not support federal legislation capping damages,” said Carl Parks, senior vice president of federal government relations for the Des Plaines, Ill.-based Property Casualty Insurers Association of America.

“But we are encouraged by the fact that the legislation under consideration could receive the votes of a majority in the U.S. Senate and give a boost to broad-based reform efforts,” he said.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, March 19, 2004. Copyright 2004 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved. Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.