Lawsuits Might Doom HMO's
Monday, November 20th, 2000 LitigationLawyers might not have been able to kill the tobacco companies or to run Microsoft out of business, but with the same litigators that sued those companies taking aim at the managed healthcare industry, two professional liability experts here predicted the death of managed care in the not-too-distant future. The failure of Congress to pass a "Patients' Bill of Rights"—with a provision allowing individuals to sue managed care organizations—isn’t standing in the way of a mountain of litigation that’s being brought against the organizations and physicians, these experts said. The two speakers—one a representative of a specialty insurer that provides liability coverage for MCOs and hospitals, the other a doctor and board chairman for a medical malpractice insurer—predictably advanced positions in favor to tort reforms during a session on "Patients' Bill of Rights—Exposure Expansion?"
