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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe maximum award for medical malpractice would increase by $400,000 under legislation proposed after a study committee last year examined Indiana’s caps. Caps on damages were last raised 17 years ago and have been increased just twice in 40 years.
Senate Bill 152 would increase the maximum award from $1.25 million to $1.65 million beginning next year. The maximum amount recoverable from a health care provider would increase from $250,000 to $450,000, with the balance of damages absorbed by the Indiana Patient’s Compensation Fund.
The bill would also:
- Adjust future caps every few years based on the Consumer Price Index;
- Allow plaintiffs to file a claim in court without first going through a medical review panel if the claim is no more than $75,000. Currently, only claims of $15,000 or less may be tried directly to court;
- Provides sanctions up to default judgment as to liability for parties, lawyers or medical review panelists who fail to act as required; and,
- Cap attorney fees at 31 percent of any med-mal recovery. Statute currently caps fees at 15 percent on awards from the Patient Compensation Fund but does not limit attorney fees collected from a health care provider’s insurance.
Trial lawyers and some health care providers agreed on a need to increase caps during study committee testimony in September. Several people testified that successful challenges to the constitutionality of caps in other states made Indiana’s Medical Malpractice Act of 1975 vulnerable to court challenges.
The bill is carried by Sen. Brent Steele, R-Bedford, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee and vowed to present legislation with wide consensus for reform.
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