I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 446

To establish an Emergency Malpractice Liability Insurance Commission. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 29, 2003

Mr. DEFAZIO 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. 

Sec. 6. Commission personnel matters. 
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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 combat the con9 sequences. 

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, ris14 ing jury awards, decreased accessibility and affordability 

15 of health care, and the increase in the number of physi16 cians moving, quitting or retiring from the practices in 

17 the field of medicine. The Commission will make rec18 ommendations based on a study of statistical trends and 

19 testimony that can be taken by Congress to alleviate the 

20 impact of the crisis in medical malpractice liability insur21 ance. 

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

23 Commission shall examine and report to the President and 

24 the Congress on at least the following: 
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1 (1) Nature and patterns of the medical mal2 practice insurance market. 

3 (2) Similarities and differences of the medical 

4 malpractice insurance market to other lines of insur5 ance. 

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

7 medical malpractice insurance market. 

8 (4) Federal role as it is and recommendations 

9 on how it should be with respect to medical mal10 practice. 

11 (5) Survey and assessment of the efficacy of 

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

13 medical malpractice insurance, in particular. 

14 (6) Survey of insurer’s investments and strate15 gies and its role is premium rate setting for medical 

16 malpractice insurance. 

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

18 for medical malpractice insurance. 

19 (8) Relationship of medical malpractice pre20 mium rates and overall medical practice costs 

21 SEC. 4. FINAL REPORT; CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS. 

22 (a) FINAL REPORT.—

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

24 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commis-
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1 sion shall submit to the President and Congress a 

2 final report which contains—

3 (A) the findings and conclusions of the 

4 Commission described in section 3; 

5 (B) a detailed plan for comprehensive 

6 strategy to combat the consequences of sky7 rocketing medical malpractice liability insurance 

8 rates; and 

9 (C) any recommendations for administra10 tive and legislative actions necessary to achieve 

11 such reductions. 

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

13 Commission may submit additional findings and rec14 ommendations as part of the final report. 

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

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

17 is submitted, the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 

18 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

19 Health, Education, Labor and Pensions of the Senate 

20 shall hold hearings on the report. 

21 SEC. 5. POWERS OF COMMISSION. 

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

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

24 testimony, and receive such evidence as the Commission 

25 may find advisable to fulfill the requirements of this Act. 
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1 The Commission shall hold at least 7 public hearings, 1 

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

3 of the United States. 

4 (b) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The 

5 Commission may secure directly from any Federal depart6 ment or agency such information as the Commission con7 siders necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. 

8 Upon request of the Chairperson of the Commission, the 

9 head of such department or agency shall furnish such in10 formation to the Commission. 

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

12 the United States mails in the same manner and under 

13 the same conditions as other departments and agencies of 

14 the Federal Government. 

15 SEC. 6. COMMISSION PERSONNEL MATTERS. 

16 (a) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.— Each member 

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

18 the Federal Government shall be compensated at a rate 

19 equal to the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic 

20 pay prescribed for level IV of the Executive Schedule 

21 under section 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for each 

22 day (including travel time) during which such member is 

23 engaged in the performance of the duties of the Commis24 sion. All members of the Commission who are officers or 

25 employees of the United States shall serve without com-
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1 pensation in addition to that received for their services as 

2 officers or employees of the United States. 

3 (b) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of the Com4 mission shall be allowed travel expenses, including per 

5 diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employ6 ees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 

7 5, United States Code, while away from their homes or 

8 regular places of business in the performance of services 

9 for the Commission. 

10 (c) STAFF.—

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

12 Commission may, without regard to the civil service 

13 laws and regulations, appoint and terminate an exec14 utive director and such other additional personnel as 

15 may be necessary to enable the Commission to per16 form its duties. The employment of an executive di17 rector shall be subject to confirmation by the Com18 mission. 

19 (2) COMPENSATION.—The Chairperson of the 

20 Commission may fix the compensation of the execu21 tive director and other personnel without regard to 

22 the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of 

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

24 to classification of positions and General Schedule 

25 pay rates, except that the rate of pay for the execu-
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1 tive director and other personnel may not exceed the 

2 rate payable for level V of the Executive Schedule 

3 under section 5316 of such title. 

4 (d) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—Any 

5 Federal Government employee may be detailed to the 

6 Commission without reimbursement, and such detail shall 

7 be without interruption or loss of civil service status or 

8 privilege. 

9 (e) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND INTERMIT10 TENT SERVICES.—The Chairperson of the Commission 

11 may procure temporary and intermittent services under 

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

13 for individuals which do not exceed the daily equivalent 

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

15 the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such title. 

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

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro18 priated $2,000,000 to the Commission to carry out the 

19 provisions of this Act. 

20 (b) GAO AUDIT.—Not later than 6 months after ter21 mination of the Commission, the Comptroller General of 

22 the United States shall complete an audit of the financial 

23 books and records of the Commission to determine that 

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

25 a report on the audit to the President and Congress. 
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1 SEC. 8. TERMINATION OF COMMISSION. 

2 The Commission shall cease to exist 30 days after 

3 the date on which the Commission submits the final report 

4 under section 4.

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