HCLA Confirms Support for Good Samaritan Legislation

WASHINGTON, Oct. 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Health Coalition on Liability and Access today announced its support for the Good Samaritan Health Professionals Act, introduced yesterday as S. 2941 in the Senate by Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Angus King (I-ME), and in September as H.R. 5239 in the House by Representatives Raul Ruiz (D-CA) and Larry Bucshon (R-MD).

The bill offers patients and medical professionals a streamlined approach to facilitate access to care when it is needed most.

The Good Samaritan Health Professionals Act would help protect medical volunteers from lawsuits during a large-scale disaster and ensure that vital health care services are available to disaster victims without altering liability laws that may currently exist in a particular state.

"The threat of medical liability lawsuits often deters qualified health care professionals looking to provide critical care to disaster victims, during a time of urgent patient needs," said HCLA Chair Mike Stinson. "As we have seen over the past year and a half in particular, the willingness and ability of these medical professionals to shift to disaster hot spots must be supported by federal legislation that ensures health care providers can volunteer to provide critical care services outside of their home state."

The Good Samaritan Health Professionals Act reconciles current inconsistencies in state laws that result in a reduction of health care professionals available to treat disaster victims, especially when applied to large-scale disasters that may cross state lines and affect patient care.

The HCLA will continue to push for further bipartisan support of both the House and Senate bills and work to drive comprehensive reform to federal medical liability laws.

For more details, visit www.hcla.org. The Health Coalition on Liability and Access is a national advocacy coalition representing physicians, hospitals, health care liability insurers, employers, health care providers and consumers. HCLA believes federal legislation is needed to bring fairness, timeliness and cost-effectiveness to America's medical liability system.

SOURCE Health Coalition on Liability and Access