The Senate Judiciary Committee heard SB 55, Sen. Steele’s bill on medical malpractice actions that permits a patient to bring an action against a health care provider without submitting the complaint to the Medical Review Board if the amount of the claim is not more than $187,000. Under current law, a patient may bring a direct action only if the amount is not more than $15,000. After much testimony against raising the limit to $187,000 and testimony that the limit should be higher than $187,000, Sen. Taylor made a motion to reduce the amount to $105,000 and the motion failed. A second motion amending the amount to $50,000 made by Sen. Glick passed. The amended bill passed 8-1.
Read the bill at http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2015/bills/senate/55.