Vital Times 2022 - 20

ADVOCACY
Legislative & Practice
Affairs Division Report
Todd Primack, DO, FASA | Chair, Legislative & Practice Affairs Division
2022 has been an
eventful year for
LPAD.
Before summarizing the
year, I would like to thank the
Board of Directors, District
Directors, Legislative Affairs
Chair Felipe Perez, MD, FASA,
Legislative Affairs Vice Chair Jenni Bartlotti-Telesz,
MD, Practice Management Chair Christopher Tirce, MD,
FASA, Practice Management Vice Chair Puja Trivedi, MD,
FASA, and Antonio Hernandez Conte, MD, MBA, FASA,
who was LPAD Chair for the first half of the year. Further
recognition goes to our lobbyist, Bryce Docherty of TDG
Strategies and our Media/Communications Experts
Alison MacLeod and Lisa Yarbrough of KP Public Affairs
who help us to deliver our message effectively.
MICRA
When we looked forward to 2022, we assumed that
California's Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act
(MICRA) would dominate our legislative efforts. Nicolas
Rowley, a renowned personal injury attorney, underwrote
a ballot Proposition 35, which would have removed
liability limits. Californians Allied for Patient Protection
(CAPP) evaluated the proposition, and felt the cost of
defense could exceed $100,000,000 and the chance of
success was much lower than Proposition 46 had in
2016. CAPP felt that Prop 35 did a much better job of
finding a sympathetic response with probable voters than
previous efforts especially in light of current inflation
and negative public perception of the Medical Board of
California's oversight of physicians.
CMA, CAPP, the Consumer Attorneys of California, and
Nick Rowley negotiated a compromise that retained the
framework that kept MICRA healthy for 50 years, while
recalibrating the limits to adjust upward to reflect the
current economic status and building in an inflationary
adjustment. Although many physicians felt that they
were left out of the process, there were tangible rewards
for accepting the final agreements. Among them -protection
of healthcare providers that express sympathy
to a patient or family, allowing physicians to express
empathy or fault without fear that statements are used
against them, and the continued protection of physician's
assets.
The attorneys were able to raise the cap on future
damages from $250,000 to $350,000 immediately, up
to $750,000 over 10 years, then 2% per year thereafter
for injuries without death. With death, the immediate
adjustment was to $500,000 up to $1,000,000 in 10 years,
then 2% per year thereafter. Three different pools of
liability were created - Healthcare providers, Healthcare
institutions and Unaffiliated healthcare providers or
institutions that commit a separate act.
The bill sailed through the legislature and was signed
into law by Governor Newsom. MICRA 2022 will go
into effect on January 1, 2023.
20 | CSA Vital Times
Vital Times 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vital Times 2022
