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109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2400

To establish an Emergency Malpractice Liability Insurance Commission. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 17, 2005

Mr. DEFAZIO (for himself, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. HINCHEY, 

and Ms. HOOLEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL

To establish an Emergency Malpractice Liability Insurance 

Commission.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Emergency Malpractice Liability Insurance Commission 

6 (EMLIC) Act’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

8 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Establishment of Commission. 

Sec. 3. Duties of the Commission. 

Sec. 4. Final report; Congressional hearings. 

Sec. 5. Powers of Commission. 
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Sec. 6. Commission personnel matters. 

Sec. 7. Authorization of appropriations; GAO audit. 

Sec. 8. Termination of Commission.

1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com3 mission to be known as Emergency Malpractice Liability 

4 Insurance Commission (in this Act referred to as the 

5 ‘‘Commission’’). 

6 (b) PURPOSE.—The Commission shall examine the 

7 causes of soaring medical malpractice premiums and pro8 pose a comprehensive strategy to alleviate the impact of 

9 the crisis in medical malpractice liability insurance. 

10 (c) MEMBERSHIP OF COMMISSION.—

11 (1) COMPOSITION.—The commission shall be 

12 composed of 12 members of whom—

13 (A) 4 shall be appointed by the President, 

14 1 of whom shall be appointed to represent phy15 sicians’ interests, 1 of whom shall be appointed 

16 to represent malpractice liability insurers, 1 of 

17 whom shall be appointed to represent lawyers’ 

18 interests, and 1 of whom shall be appointed to 

19 represent consumer protection interests; 

20 (B) 1 Senator and 1 other individual shall 

21 be appointed by the President pro tempore of 

22 the Senate upon the recommendation of the 

23 Majority Leader of the Senate; 
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1 (C) 1 Senator and 1 other individual shall 

2 be appointed by the President pro tempore of 

3 the Senate upon the recommendation of the Mi4 nority Leader of the Senate; 

5 (D) 1 Member of the House of Representa6 tives and 1 other individual shall be appointed 

7 by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; 

8 and 

9 (E) 1 Member of the House of Representa10 tives and 1 other individual shall be appointed 

11 by the Minority Leader of the House of Rep12 resentatives. 

13 (2) QUALIFICATIONS OF MEMBERS.—

14 (A) PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENTS.—Of 

15 the individuals appointed under paragraph 

16 (1)(A), not more than 1 may be an officer, em17 ployee, or paid consultant of the Executive 

18 Branch. 

19 (B) OTHER APPOINTMENTS.—Individuals 

20 who are not Members of Congress, appointed 

21 under subparagraph (B), (C), (D), or (E) of 

22 paragraph (1), shall be individuals who—

23 (i) have expertise in medicine, insur24 ance, law, consumers affairs, or have other 

25 pertinent qualifications or experience; and 
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1 (ii) are not officers or employees of 

2 the United States. 

3 (C) OTHER CONSIDERATIONS.—In appoint4 ing Commission members, every effort shall be 

5 made to ensure that the members—

6 (i) represent a broad cross section of 

7 regional and political perspectives in the 

8 United States; and 

9 (ii) provide fresh insights to analyzing 

10 the medical malpractice insurance crisis. 

11 (d) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT; VACANCIES.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Members shall be appointed 

13 not later than 60 days after the date of enactment 

14 of this Act and the appointment shall be for the life 

15 of the Commission. 

16 (2) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the Commis17 sion shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in 

18 the same manner as the original appointment. 

19 (e) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 30 days after 

20 the date on which all members of the Commission have 

21 been appointed, the Commission shall hold its first meet22 ing. 

23 (f) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at the 

24 call of the Chairperson. 
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1 (g) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON.—The 

2 members of the Commission shall elect a chairperson and 

3 vice chairperson from among the members of the Commis4 sion. 

5 (h) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of the 

6 Commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction 

7 of business. 

8 (i) VOTING.—Each member of the Commission shall 

9 be entitled to 1 vote. 

10 SEC. 3. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall investigate 

12 and determine whether a causal relationship exists be13 tween skyrocketing malpractice insurance premiums, jury 

14 awards, decreased accessibility and affordability of health 

15 care, and the increase in the number of physicians moving, 

16 quitting or retiring from the practices in the field of medi17 cine. The Commission will make recommendations based 

18 on a study of statistical trends and testimony that can 

19 be taken by Congress to alleviate the impact of the crisis 

20 in medical malpractice liability insurance. 

21 (b) SPECIFIC ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED.—The 

22 Commission shall examine and report to the President and 

23 the Congress on at least the following: 

24 (1) Nature and patterns of the medical mal25 practice insurance market. 
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1 (2) Similarities and differences of the medical 

2 malpractice insurance market to other lines of insur3 ance. 

4 (3) Impact of the McCarran-Ferguson Act on 

5 medical malpractice insurance market. 

6 (4) Federal role as it is and recommendations 

7 on how it should be with respect to medical mal8 practice. 

9 (5) Survey and assessment of the efficacy of 

10 State-level legislation in insurance, in general, and 

11 medical malpractice insurance, in particular. 

12 (6) Survey of insurer’s investments and strate13 gies and its role in premium rate setting for medical 

14 malpractice insurance. 

15 (7) Role of jury awards in premium rate setting 

16 for medical malpractice insurance. 

17 (8) Relationship of medical malpractice pre18 mium rates and overall medical practice costs. 

19 (9) The extent to which malpractice claims are 

20 widely dispersed across the medical community or 

21 concentrated among a handful of repeat offenders, 

22 and the effectiveness of state and professional regu23 latory bodies in disciplining poor performing doctors 

24 and medical professionals. 
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1 SEC. 4. FINAL REPORT; CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS. 

2 (a) FINAL REPORT.—

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 16 months 

4 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commis5 sion shall submit to the President and Congress a 

6 final report which contains—

7 (A) the findings and conclusions of the 

8 Commission described in section 3; 

9 (B) a detailed plan for comprehensive 

10 strategy to combat the consequences of sky11 rocketing medical malpractice liability insurance 

12 rates; and 

13 (C) any recommendations for administra14 tive and legislative actions necessary to achieve 

15 such reductions. 

16 (2) SEPARATE VIEWS.—Any member of the 

17 Commission may submit additional findings and rec18 ommendations as part of the final report. 

19 (b) CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS.—Not later than 6 

20 months after the final report described in subsection (a) 

21 is submitted, the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 

22 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

23 Health, Education, Labor and Pensions of the Senate 

24 shall hold hearings on the report. 
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1 SEC. 5. POWERS OF COMMISSION. 

2 (a) HEARINGS.—The Commission may hold such 

3 hearings, sit and act at such times and places, take such 

4 testimony, and receive such evidence as the Commission 

5 may find advisable to fulfill the requirements of this Act. 

6 The Commission shall hold at least 7 public hearings, 1 

7 or more in Washington, D.C. and 4 in different regions 

8 of the United States. 

9 (b) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The 

10 Commission may secure directly from any Federal depart11 ment or agency such information as the Commission con12 siders necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. 

13 Upon request of the Chairperson of the Commission, the 

14 head of such department or agency shall furnish such in15 formation to the Commission. 

16 (c) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Commission may use 

17 the United States mails in the same manner and under 

18 the same conditions as other departments and agencies of 

19 the Federal Government. 

20 SEC. 6. COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS. 

21 (a) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.—Each member of 

22 the Commission who is not an officer or employee of the 

23 Federal Government shall be compensated at a rate equal 

24 to the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay pre25 scribed for level IV of the Executive Schedule under sec26 tion 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for each day (in-
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1 cluding travel time) during which such member is engaged 

2 in the performance of the duties of the Commission. All 

3 members of the Commission who are officers or employees 

4 of the United States shall serve without compensation in 

5 addition to that received for their services as officers or 

6 employees of the United States. 

7 (b) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of the Com8 mission shall be allowed travel expenses, including per 

9 diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employ10 ees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 

11 5, United States Code, while away from their homes or 

12 regular places of business in the performance of services 

13 for the Commission. 

14 (c) STAFF.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Chairperson of the 

16 Commission may, without regard to the civil service 

17 laws and regulations, appoint and terminate an exec18 utive director and such other additional personnel as 

19 may be necessary to enable the Commission to per20 form its duties. The employment of an executive di21 rector shall be subject to confirmation by the Com22 mission. 

23 (2) COMPENSATION.—The Chairperson of the 

24 Commission may fix the compensation of the execu25 tive director and other personnel without regard to 
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1 the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of 

2 chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, relating 

3 to classification of positions and General Schedule 

4 pay rates, except that the rate of pay for the execu5 tive director and other personnel may not exceed the 

6 rate payable for level V of the Executive Schedule 

7 under section 5316 of such title. 

8 (d) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—Any 

9 Federal Government employee may be detailed to the 

10 Commission without reimbursement, and such detail shall 

11 be without interruption or loss of civil service status or 

12 privilege. 

13 (e) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND INTERMIT14 TENT SERVICES.—The Chairperson of the Commission 

15 may procure temporary and intermittent services under 

16 section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, at rates 

17 for individuals which do not exceed the daily equivalent 

18 of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for level V of 

19 the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such title. 

20 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; GAO AUDIT. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro22 priated $2,000,000 to the Commission to carry out the 

23 provisions of this Act. 

24 (b) GAO AUDIT.—Not later than 6 months after ter25 mination of the Commission, the Comptroller General of 
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1 the United States shall complete an audit of the financial 

2 books and records of the Commission to determine that 

3 the limitation on expenses has been met, and shall submit 

4 a report on the audit to the President and Congress. 

5 SEC. 8. TERMINATION OF COMMISSION. 

6 The Commission shall cease to exist 30 days after 

7 the date on which the Commission submits the final report 

8 under section 4.

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