Hearing Information
Amendment Deadline
Monday, June 12, 2017 - 3:00pm H-312, The Capitol View Announcement »
Meeting Information
Tuesday, June 13, 2017 - 3:00pm H-313, The Capitol View Announcement »
H.R. 1215 - Protecting Access to Care Act of 2017
Video
Bill Text
Hearing Documents
Rule Information
COMMITTEE ACTION:
REPORTED BY RECORD VOTE of 7-3 on Tuesday, June 13, 2017.
FLOOR ACTION ON H. RES. 382:
Agreed to by record vote of 235-186, after agreeing to the previous questions by record vote of 234-184 on Tuesday, June 27, 2017.
MANAGERS: Burgess/Polis
1. Structured rule.
2. Provides one hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary.
3. Waives all points of order against consideration of the bill.
4. Makes in order as original text for purpose of amendment an amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the text of Rules Committee Print 115-10 and provides that it shall be considered as read.
5. Waives all points of order against that amendment in the nature of a substitute.
6. Makes in order only those further amendments printed in the Rules Committee report. Each such amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report, may be offered only by a Member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question.
7. Waives all points of order against the amendments printed in the report.
8. Provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions.
Amendments (click headers to sort)
| # | Version # | Sponsor(s) | Party | Summary | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | Version 1 | Adams (NC) | Democrat | Exempts from the bill claims that arise out of incidents of sexual misconduct. | Submitted |
| 17 | Version 2 | Barr (KY) | Republican | Revised Gives affirmative defense to defendants in health care liability cases if they can show they complied with clinical practice guidelines. | Made In Order |
| 18 | Version 2 | Barr (KY) | Republican | Revised Allows the removal of health care liability cases to federal court if there is a federal nexus and/or a Federal payor in the case. Requires that the case be brought in a federal court or removed to a federal court in order for the provisions of HR 1215 to apply. | Submitted |
| 21 | Version 1 | Biggs (AZ) | Republican | Late Eliminates the community rating rule of the ACA | Submitted |
| 22 | Version 1 | Biggs (AZ) | Republican | Late Allows states to opt out of all requirements of the ACA and AHCA | Submitted |
| 23 | Version 1 | Biggs (AZ) | Republican | Late Allows individuals to purchase health insurance across state lines. | Submitted |
| 20 | Version 1 | Burgess (TX), Sessions (TX) | Republican | Late Clarifies that health care services as defined in H.R. 1215 include safety, professional, and administrative services directly related to health care. | Made In Order |
| 2 | Version 1 | Cohen (TN) | Democrat | Exempts from the bill lawsuits concerning foreign objects being left inside a patient or the performance of a wrong-patient or wrong-site surgery. | Submitted |
| 1 | Version 1 | Dent (PA) | Republican | Provides temporary liability protections to physicians, emergency and on-call specialists, who perform medical services mandated by the federal EMTALA (Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act) law. | Submitted |
| 3 | Version 1 | Fitzpatrick (PA) | Republican | Declares that an action for damages or a person's liability under state law is not affected by the federal prohibition on state or local requirements regarding medical devices. Retroactively effective and applies to pending civil actions. | Submitted |
| 4 | Version 2 | Fitzpatrick (PA) | Republican | Revised Removes product liability protection for a health care provider under the statute if the health care provider does not report to the Food and Drug Administration about significant adverse experiences (death or serious illness/injury) caused by class II or class III medical devices | Submitted |
| 11 | Version 1 | Fitzpatrick (PA), Johnson, Hank (GA) | Bi-Partisan | Ensures that the bill will not preempt any provision of a State constitution or decision made by the highest court in a State. | Submitted |
| 6 | Version 2 | Hudson (NC), Abraham (LA), Harris (MD), Roe (TN), Marshall (KS), Bucshon (IN), DesJarlais (TN) | Republican | Revised Allows a physician to apologize to a patient for an unintended outcome without having the apology count against them in the court of law. Defers to the state law where "sorry provisions" are already in statute. Requires a plaintiff to provide a notice of intent to the physician 90 days before the lawsuit is filed. Defers to state laws that directly address Notices of Intent. Requires a plaintiff to have a physician in the same specialty as the defendant physician to sign an affidavit certifying the merits of the case before the lawsuit could be brought to court. Defers to state laws that directly address Affidavits of Merit. Requires that for any “expert witness” called to testify during trial, the witness would need to meet the same licensing requirements as the defendant physician. Defers to state laws that directly address Expert Witness Qualifications. | Made In Order |
| 7 | Version 1 | Hudson (NC), Abraham (LA), Harris (MD), Roe (TN), Marshall (KS), Bucshon (IN) | Republican | Withdrawn Requires a plaintiff to have a physician in the same specialty as the defendant physician to sign an affidavit certifying the merits of the case before the lawsuit could be brought to court. Defers to state laws that directly address that same issues covered in the bill. | Withdrawn |
| 8 | Version 1 | Hudson (NC), Abraham (LA), DesJarlais (TN), Harris (MD), Marshall (KS), Bucshon (IN) | Republican | Withdrawn Allows a physician to apologize to a patient for an unintended outcome without having the apology count against them in the court of law. Defers to state laws that directly address that same issues covered in the bill. | Withdrawn |
| 9 | Version 1 | Hudson (NC), Harris (MD), Marshall (KS), Bucshon (IN) | Republican | Withdrawn Requires a plaintiff to provide a notice of intent to the physician 90 days before the lawsuit is filed. Defers to state laws that directly address that same issues covered in the bill. | Withdrawn |
| 10 | Version 1 | Jackson Lee (TX) | Democrat | Exempts from the bill any civil action which arises out of an injury to a minor child. | Submitted |
| 12 | Version 1 | Johnson, Hank (GA) | Democrat | Exempts nursing homes and long-term care facilities. | Submitted |
| 13 | Version 1 | McEachin (VA) | Democrat | Excludes all claims arising from an intentional tort. | Submitted |
| 19 | Version 1 | McEachin (VA) | Democrat | Specifies that Section 6 shall not apply if a care provider prescribes a medical product for a use not approved by the FDA, or if a care provider engages in fraudulent conduct, and exempts from the definition of "health care lawsuit" claims or actions arising from similar causes. | Submitted |
| 5 | Version 1 | Nadler (NY) | Democrat | Increases the bill's $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages to $1,128,000 to reflect the cost of inflation since 1975, and would index the cap for inflation going forward. | Submitted |
| 25 | Version 1 | Plaskett, (VI) | Democrat | Late Strikes the limitation on the opportunity of minors to bring a health care lawsuit upon reaching majority should the minor’s parent or guardian fail to bring the health care lawsuit on behalf of the injured minor. | Submitted |
| 14 | Version 1 | Raskin (MD) | Democrat | Precludes the act from preempting state law permitting the use of joint and several liability in medical malpractice actions. | Submitted |
| 15 | Version 2 | Roe (TN), Hudson (NC), Marshall (KS), Bucshon (IN) | Republican | Revised Limits who qualifies as an expert witness, in medical malpractice negligence cases, based on professional qualifications as well as geographic relation to where the case in chief is being litigated. | Made In Order |
| 24 | Version 1 | Sessions (TX), Burgess (TX) | Republican | Late Begins the tolling of the statute of limitations on the date of the alleged breach or tort, rather than the date of the injury, which is not always a date certain. The statute of limits will be three years after the alleged breach or one year after the claimant discovers the breach, whichever occurs first. | Made In Order |
Committee Votes
Rules Committee Record Vote No. 62
Motion by Mr. McGovern to report an open rule. Defeated: 3–7
Majority Member
Vote
Mr. Cole
Nay
Mr. Woodall
Nay
Mr. Burgess
Nay
Mr. Collins
Nay
Mr. Byrne
No Vote
Mr. Newhouse
Nay
Mr. Buck
Nay
Ms. Cheney
No Vote
Mr. Sessions, Chairman
Nay
Minority Member
Vote
Ms. Slaughter
Yea
Mr. McGovern
Yea
Mr. Hastings
Yea
Mr. Polis
No Vote
Rules Committee Record Vote No. 63
Motion by Mr. Cole to report the rule. Adopted: 7-3
Majority Member
Vote
Mr. Cole
Yea
Mr. Woodall
Yea
Mr. Burgess
Yea
Mr. Collins
Yea
Mr. Byrne
No Vote
Mr. Newhouse
Yea
Mr. Buck
Yea
Ms. Cheney
No Vote
Mr. Sessions, Chairman
Yea
Minority Member
Vote
Ms. Slaughter
Nay
Mr. McGovern
Nay
Mr. Hastings
Nay
Mr. Polis
No Vote