Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2007

To improve patient access to health care services and provide improved medical care by reducing the excessive burden the liability system places on the health care delivery system.

6/6/2007--Introduced.
Help Efficient, Accessible, Low Cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2007 - Sets conditions for lawsuits arising from health care liability claims regarding health care goods or services or any medical product affecting interstate commerce. Sets a statute of li more...mitations of three years after the date of manifestation of injury or one year after the claimant discovers the injury, with certain exceptions. Provides that nothing in this Act limits recovery of the full amount of available economic damages. Limits noneconomic damages to $250,000. Makes each party liable only for the amount of damages directly proportional to such party's percentage of responsibility. Allows the court to restrict the payment of attorney contingency fees. Limits the fees to a decreasing percentage based on the increasing value of the amount awarded. Allows the introduction of collateral source benefits and the amount paid to secure such benefits as evidence. Prohibits a provider of such benefits from recovering any amount from an award in a health care lawsuit involving injury or wrongful death. Authorizes the award of punitive damages only where:
(1) it is proven by clear and convincing evidence that a person acted with malicious intent to injure the claimant or deliberately failed to avoid unnecessary injury the claimant was substantially certain to suffer; and
(2) compensatory damages are awarded. Limits punitive damages to the greater of two times the amount of economic damages or $250,000. Denies punitive damages in the case of products approved, cleared, or licensed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), or otherwise considered in compliance with FDA standards. Provides for periodic payments of future damages.

Sponsor

• Rep. John Gingrey [R, GA-11]
• and 80 Co-Sponsors
  • Rep. W. Todd Akin [R, MO-2]
  • Rep. Michele Bachmann [R, MN-6]
  • Rep. Richard Baker [R, LA-6]
  • Rep. Judy Biggert [R, IL-13]
  • Rep. Marsha Blackburn [R, TN-7]
  • Rep. Dan Boren [D, OK-2]
  • Rep. Charles Boustany [R, LA-7]
  • Rep. Virginia Brown-Waite [R, FL-5]
  • Rep. Vern Buchanan [R, FL-13]
  • Rep. Michael Burgess [R, TX-26]
  • Rep. Dan Burton [R, IN-5]
  • Rep. David Camp [R, MI-4]
  • Rep. Christopher Cannon [R, UT-3]
  • Rep. Shelley Capito [R, WV-2]
  • Rep. John Carter [R, TX-31]
  • Rep. Steven Chabot [R, OH-1]
  • Rep. Tom Cole [R, OK-4]
  • Rep. Robert Cramer [D, AL-5]
  • Rep. Charles Dent [R, PA-15]
  • Rep. Thelma Drake [R, VA-2]
  • Rep. David Dreier [R, CA-26]
  • Rep. Terry Everett [R, AL-2]
  • Rep. Mary Fallin [R, OK-5]
  • Rep. Tom Feeney [R, FL-24]
  • Rep. James Forbes [R, VA-4]
  • Rep. Vito Fossella [R, NY-13]
  • Rep. Virginia Foxx [R, NC-5]
  • Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen [R, NJ-11]
  • Rep. Elton Gallegly [R, CA-24]
  • Rep. E. Scott Garrett [R, NJ-5]
  • Rep. Jim Gerlach [R, PA-6]
  • Rep. Wayne Gilchrest [R, MD-1]
  • Rep. Ralph Hall [R, TX-4]
  • Rep. J. Dennis Hastert [R, IL-14]
  • Rep. Doc Hastings [R, WA-4]
  • Rep. Robin Hayes [R, NC-8]
  • Rep. Dean Heller [R, NV-2]
  • Rep. Jeb Hensarling [R, TX-5]
  • Rep. David Hobson [R, OH-7]
  • Rep. Bob Inglis [R, SC-4]
  • Rep. Samuel Johnson [R, TX-3]
  • Rep. Mark Kirk [R, IL-10]
  • Rep. John Kline [R, MN-2]
  • Rep. Joseph Knollenberg [R, MI-9]
  • Rep. Ron Lewis [R, KY-2]
  • Rep. Connie Mack [R, FL-14]
  • Rep. Donald Manzullo [R, IL-16]
  • Rep. Jim Matheson [D, UT-2]
  • Rep. Michael McCaul [R, TX-10]
  • Rep. John McHugh [R, NY-23]
  • Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers [R, WA-5]
  • Rep. Gary Miller [R, CA-42]
  • Rep. Jeff Miller [R, FL-1]
  • Rep. Marilyn Musgrave [R, CO-4]
  • Rep. Eleanor Norton [D, DC-0]
  • Rep. Mike Pence [R, IN-6]
  • Rep. John Peterson [R, PA-5]
  • Rep. Joseph Pitts [R, PA-16]
  • Rep. Jon Porter [R, NV-3]
  • Rep. Tom Price [R, GA-6]
  • Rep. George Radanovich [R, CA-19]
  • Rep. James Ramstad [R, MN-3]
  • Rep. Michael Rogers [R, AL-3]
  • Rep. Peter Roskam [R, IL-6]
  • Rep. H. James Saxton [R, NJ-3]
  • Rep. Peter Sessions [R, TX-32]
  • Rep. Christopher Shays [R, CT-4]
  • Rep. John Shimkus [R, IL-19]
  • Rep. William Shuster [R, PA-9]
  • Rep. Michael Simpson [R, ID-2]
  • Rep. Lamar Smith [R, TX-21]
  • Rep. Mark Souder [R, IN-3]
  • Rep. Clifford Stearns [R, FL-6]
  • Rep. Timothy Walberg [R, MI-7]
  • Rep. Zach Wamp [R, TN-3]
  • Rep. Gerald Weller [R, IL-11]
  • Rep. Lynn Westmoreland [R, GA-3]
  • Rep. Roger Wicker [R, MS-1]
  • Rep. Addison Wilson [R, SC-2]
  • Rep. Frank Wolf [R, VA-10]
  close

Committees

• House Judiciary
• 2 more
  • House Energy and Commerce
  • House Energy and Commerce
  close

Amendments

This bill has no amendments.

Amendments to H.R.2580

Number	Status	Purpose

---

Bill Status

Make a Bill Status Widget (What's this?)(Close help)

OpenCongress widgets allow you to display information about bills and issue areas on your own website or blog. First, select which bill or issue you want to track, then customize the appearance of the panel, and finally paste a simple chunk of HTML into your site. Now your community will have an easy, up-to-date way to track the status of important bills and issues in Congress.

Introduced		Voted on by House		Voted on by Senate		Considered By President		Bill Becomes Law
June 06, 2007

Related Bills:

• H.R.5480
• S.2662

Related Issue Areas:

• Medicine
• Accident insurance
• Actions and defenses
• Blood
• 50 more
• Bribery
• Business
• Child health
• Children
• Collection of accounts
• Conflict of interests
• Consumers
• Criminal justice
• Damages
• Department of Health and Human Services
• Disability insurance
• Disabled
• Drug approvals
• Drug industry
• Drugs
• Evidence (Law)
• Executive departments
• Federal officials
• Federal preemption
• Finance
• Fines (Penalties)
• Fraud
• Government employees
• Health care fraud
• Health insurance
• Health policy
• Labeling
• Labor
• Law
• Legal fees
• Liability (Law)
• Liability insurance
• Licenses
• Liens
• Limitation of actions
• Medical care
• Medical instruments and apparatus
• Medical malpractice
• Minors
• Misconduct in office
• Packaging
• Parties to actions
• Politics and government
• Product safety
• Products liability
• Punitive damages
• State and local government
• State laws
• Vaccines
• Workers' compensation

In the News

We are not currently finding any news articles on this topic using our daily automated search of Google News. However, if you know of a relevant news article to display here, OpenCongress site editors have the ability to add it manually. Simply e-mail us the web address of this page and the web address of your suggested news article: We'll post relevant links as quickly as possible. Also, if this topic is important to you, you could write a letter to the editor -- if a news article refers this specific topic by name, a link to that news article is likely to appear here soon.

Blog Coverage

November 16, 2007 The Oklahoma City Bombing: 30 Unanswered Questions

... unlimited and court-admissible Federal wiretaps to censorship of the Internet to the suspension of habeas corpus in “terrorism” cases to the grotesque destruction of the First Amendment advocated in Charles Schumer’s bill HR 2580, ...

Source: Offensive Stuff
Was this article useful? Yes or No

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

October 03, 2007 The passing of the old America

As enacted, the immigration bill (HR 2580) is Public Law 89-236 (79 Stat. 911).'' Having read this address in its entirety, I am staggered first of all by the falsehoods; surely our government officials were aware of what they were ...

Source: Vanishing American
Was this article useful? Yes or No

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

October 03, 2007 Verschwindener Amerikaner: Das Überschreiten des alten Amerikas

Wie verordnet, ist die Immigrationrechnung (HR 2580) allgemeines Gesetz 89-236 (Status 79. 911).'' , diese Adresse lesend in seiner Ganzheit, werde ich zuerst von allen durch die Unwahrheiten geschwankt; sicher unsere Regierungsbeamten ...

Source: Travel
Was this article useful? Yes or No

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

5 more posts...
See highest rated blog posts

Information made available by: