Legislation Seeks to Protect Healthcare Workers from Liability Suits

Washington, DC (WorkersCompenstion.com) – While a number of states have adopted presumptions measures to help front line workers with COVID-19 obtain workers’ compensation benefits, healthcare workers would additionally be shielded from lawsuits. Saying there is a threat of medical liability lawsuits, the Health Coalition on Liability and Access added its support for newly introduced legislation.

H.R. 3021, the Coronavirus Provider Protect Act was introduced last week by Reps. J. Luis Correa,, D-California, and Michael C. Burgess, MD, R- Texas and referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. The legislation would “provide for liability protection for health care providers for damages with respect to any harm caused by any act or omission of such health care professional or related health care entity in the course of arranging for or providing health care services during the COVID-19 public health emergency period, and for other purposes,” according to a brief legislative summary.

“Confronting risks at the onset of the pandemic — including workforce shortages, inadequate safety supplies, and changing guidance from federal, state, and local government officials — providers now face the very real threat of unwarranted medical liability lawsuits,” said the HCLA in a statement. “With COVID-19 still disrupting our health care system, the patchwork of state laws and expiring executive orders adopted during the pandemic are insufficient in addressing this national problem, which requires a federal solution.”

While there is no specific text of the legislation yet, the HCLA’s statement said the “narrowly crafted liability protections” in the measure would apply only when:

• The act or omission occurred during the declared COVID-19 public health emergency or within 60 days of termination of the emergency;
• The act or omission occurred while providing or arranging care;
• The services were within the provider's scope of licensure/certification, without regard as to whether the service fell within the usual scope of practice; and
• The services were provided in good faith.

“Additional actions covered by the bill would include those taken based on direction or guidance from any Federal, State, or local official/department/agency, as well as those taken due to a lack of resources attributable to the declared emergency,” the statement said.

In a letter to the bill’s sponsors, HCLA Chair Mike Stinson said that until the legislation is passed, “the very health care providers and facilities that have been celebrated as our nation's heroes remain vulnerable to the threat of unwarranted liability lawsuits … We are committed to working to ensure that this threat is avoided so the highest level of care may continue to be provided to those both directly and indirectly affected by the pandemic."

Also committing its support was the Medical Professional Liability Association. The proposal would provide “targeted civil liability protection for healthcare professionals and facilities during the COVID-19 national public health emergency,” wrote president and CEO Brian K. Atchinson in a statement. “We applaud Representative Correa and Representative Burgess for introducing this bipartisan legislation to protect the nation’s frontline medical professionals from the threat of medical liability lawsuits stemming from care already provided as well as care that might have been delayed because of the coronavirus restrictions. Enacting this measure would allow healthcare professionals to continue to focus on providing care for patients without fear of unwarranted legal actions.”

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