Lett Testifies in Congress
Liability issues remain a top priority for AMDA's members and as a
result for the association, after months of work in cooperation with
the American Health Care Association, the Senate Committee on Aging
under the leadership of Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) held a hearing on
"Medical Liability in Long-Term Care: Is Escalating Litigation a Threat
to Quality and Access?"
On July 15, 2004, James E. Lett II, MD, CMD, Immediate Past
President of AMDA, testified to the Senate Special Committee on Aging.
He explained that typically, medical directors are covered for their
administrative actions in nursing homes by the nursing facility's
insurance coverage, while medical directors who also care for nursing
home patients carry their own separate liability coverage for their
clinical actions.
Dr. Lett advised the Committee that, "Increasing numbers of nursing
homes are losing their liability insurance or are simply no longer able
to afford it, leaving them--and their medical directors--"bare"; that
is, without any liability insurance for themselves and for the medical
director's administrative acts. Moreover, long term care physicians are
having difficulty obtaining liability coverage for their clinical care."
Dr. Lett recommended enactment of legislation to control liability
costs, as well as further development and implementation of
evidence-based standards of care, such as those AMDA has developed.
He added that, "Great emphasis has been placed on improving the
quality of nursing home care in recent years, but quality care can
never be achieved without the involvement and medical direction of
knowledgeable, experienced, and dedicated long term care physicians."
While progress on the liability issue is hard to quantify, a hearing
that focused on long term care aspects of the issue was an excellent
opportunity and Dr. Lett rose to the occasion with his prepared
testimony and his interchange with several Senators including one
senator whose mother resides in a nursing home in Dr. Lett's hometown.
To read the full testimony, log onto www.amda.com/federalaffairs/liability/lett_testimony.htm.
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