Republican Leaders, Hospital Groups Eye New Liability Shields

Republican congressional leaders say they’ll pursue creating stronger protections from lawsuits for health-care workers after a flurry of industry pressure for new liability shields.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said in a joint statement Friday they are “united in our demand that healthcare workers, small businesses, and other Americans on the front lines of this fight must receive strong protections from frivolous lawsuits.”

“We cannot let a second pandemic of opportunistic litigation enrich trial lawyers at the expense of Main Street and medical professionals,” the pair said. “Senate and House Republicans agree these protections will be absolutely essential to future discussions surrounding recovery legislation.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)

Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Neither McConnell nor McCarthy’s office has offered legislation to extend liability protections for hospitals and doctors. McConnell this week said he wants to shield small businesses that reopen amid the pandemic from lawsuits.

Democrats Opposed

Democratic leaders have said they aren’t in support of expanding protection, but hospital and doctors groups in recent weeks have lobbied in favor of them.

The American Medical Association in April asked Congress to extend “broad civil immunity to physicians and other clinicians” for injuries and deaths resulting from medical services during the coronavirus pandemic. New York, the state hardest-hit by the pandemic, has granted such broad civil protections with exceptions for “gross negligence” and other circumstances.

The Greater New York Hospital Association on Tuesday sent a messageto its congressional delegation, which includes Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, saying the pandemic “has forced health care providers and their workforces to make difficult decisions on how to best allocate limited resources and care for COVID-19 patients.” The group is asking for greater liability protections.

“Hospitals and other health care providers, particularly those in hot spots, have asked their nurses, physicians, and other health care workers to serve under incredible stress on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis,” the group said in its letter.

The American Hospital Association has also asked for similar protections.