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Join the CAPP (Californians Allied for Patient Protection) Fight >> MICRA Critical to Protecting Ophthalmic Practice Across the United States
OMIC is a member of CAPP. The Californians Allied for Patient Protection (CAPP) initiative is critical tort reform that has been instrumental in keeping malpractice costs manageable and protecting patients access to health care. Because California initiatives are often a bellweather for tort actions in other parts of the country, the fight to maintain MICRA is a top priority for health care, and specifically ophthalmic practice.
MICRA legislation has been in place for decades and has worked well to keep California malpractice rates lower than many other areas of the United States. (The history of this legislation is described below) The campaign to lift the MICRA cap is underway. Last week, the Consumer Attorneys of California kicked in hundreds of thousands of dollars to bankroll the initiative. In turn, expect to see signature gatherers at your local grocery stores.
From the early stages of this campaign, we’ve witnessed the Consumer Attorneys intent to mislead the voters. They already have attempted to make this initiative about patient safety and have tried to gloss over lifting the MICRA cap by adding the window dressing of drug testing doctors. They know if voters understand the dire consequences associated with lifting the cap – the potential loss of their doctors and the amount of money they will be paying that goes straight into trial attorney’s pockets, voters will oppose the measure. The non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates that lifting the MICRA cap would cost local governments and the state hundreds of millions of dollars annually. These dollars are currently spent on public safety, protecting the safety net, and clinical care. This amount doesn’t take into consideration the hit to taxpayers. Overall, lifting the cap would cost Californian’s billions of dollars.
MICRA was put into place by a wave of frivolous lawsuits that drove health care costs to unprecedented levels and now we face that fight once again and we need your help.
And Click Here to join the fight!
Together we’ll protect our health care system.
Look below for recent media:
- San Francisco Chronicle – Kathy Kneer and Richard Thorp, MD: “‘Patient Safety Initiative Targets Malpractice Law,” November 1, 2013
- Ventura County Star – Timm Herdt: “Medical Malpractice Initiative Could Kick Off Huge Political Battle,” November 1, 2013
- San Francisco Chronicle – Bob Egelko: “High-Impact Details in Initiative Aimed at Doctors,” October 30, 2013
