If you’re a fan of “The Office,” you may remember the story line of Michael dating Pam’s mom. And in particular, the scene where Michael first tells Pam about it. Michael softly whispers “It’s OK, it’s OK” while Pam gradually starts screaming her head off.
“It’s ok, it’s ok,” is something we’ve probably all whispered to someone, somewhere, at some point in our life. Today, I’m going to gently whisper this to two unlikely groups: the American Medical Association (AMA) and the “tort reform” crowd in Congress. They’ve both recently tip-toed over to the light from the civil justice dark side, and I’m here to tell them “It’s ok, it’s ok. Everything’s gonna be alright!”
First, the AMA. The other day, the AMA publicly admitted that the insurance industry’s predictable economic cycle is to blame for the recent round of medical malpractice insurance premium hikes for doctors. They said, “The medical liability insurance cycle is in a period of increasing premiums.” (See why that’s true here.)
The fact that they didn’t go on an unsubstantiated screaming rant about juries, lawyers, lawsuits, or claims stands in stark contrast to the AMA’s response to prior periods of rate hikes (and there have been three since the 1970s). Every other time, the AMA responded with a huge PR and lobbying campaign blaming the legal system for doctors’ insurance problems and pressuring for new “tort reform” laws as the “solution.” (See more here.) But they can’t do that now. I mean, I guess they could try, but they’d be laughed out of the room. Some states suffering through rate hikes still have pandemic liability shields in place, which immunize health care workers from liability. Jury trials ground to a halt during the pandemic and are still severely backlogged. And half the states with the highest med mal insurance rates limit compensation for injured patients (illustrating the true ineffectiveness of “caps” as solutions to this insurance-created problem.) So for a change, they’re trying honesty.
To the AMA, we say, it’s ok, it’s ok, it feels good to be honest about this, right? No more screaming rants. Help your doctors with real insurance-based solutions to their cyclical insurance problems. It's the only thing that works. Drop us a line. We have thoughts.
Second, hello Congress’ “tort reform” crowd! As we recently wrote a few weeks ago, a strongly bi-partisan anti-forced arbitration bill just passed the U.S. House by a vote of 335 to 97, and then passed the Senate unanimously. Now signed into law, this bill bans the use of forced arbitration clauses in cases involving sexual harassment and sexual assault. Congress’ landslide vote on this wasn’t just a “tip-toe” into the light, but rather a major jump. They were actually forced to admit that forced arbitration is not good for people.
It seems ridiculous for anyone to argue now, with a straight face, that forced arbitration clauses are good for people, in fact so great that for their own good, the public must be forced to agree to them. Nearly the entire Congress rejected that here. Obviously these clauses are as bad for sexual harassment and assault victims as they are for defrauded servicemembers, neglected nursing home residents, small businesses being squeezed by a conglomerate, low-wage essential workers being ripped off during a pandemic. Forced arbitration clauses have proliferated in all of these areas and should be outlawed.
So to all you “tort reformers” in Congress, it’s ok, it’s ok, stay honest about this. No more screaming rants about juries, lawyers, lawsuits, or claims. Remain over here with us, in the light, and with those who care about workers and consumers. Because it’s all coming up again, real fast. The House votes today on H.R. 963, the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal (FAIR) Act, which would ensure that all workers, consumers, servicemembers, nursing home residents, ordinary investors, and small businesses harmed by bad actors can bring valid claims in court.
Stay in the light and do the right thing. And if you’re still struggling with this, drop us a line. We have thoughts.
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