HCLA Pushes for Inclusion of Good Samaritan Legislation in Pandemic Preparedness Reauthorization

WASHINGTON, June 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Health Coalition on Liability and Access today announced its support for including the language contained in the Good Samaritan Health Professionals Act (H.R. 2819) as part of the pending reauthorization of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA).

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 PAHPA reauthorization is expected to consider several lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and response, ensuring that our nation's health care systems and professionals are best equipped to respond to future pandemics and public health emergencies.

Today, inconsistencies in state laws result in a lack 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 Good Samaritan Health Professionals Act mitigates the risks of meritless lawsuits that deter qualified individuals from volunteering, while respecting existing medical liability laws in individual states.

"On behalf of our coalition members, patients and medical professionals across the country, we strongly urge Congress to incorporate the Good Samaritan Health Professionals Act into legislation reauthorizing the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act," said HCLA Chair Mike Stinson. "Addressing this issue now, before the next pandemic, natural disaster, or public health emergency occurs, makes it more likely that health care professionals will be willing and able to provide essential services to those most in need of critical care."

In addition to supporting the standalone Good Samaritan legislation and its inclusion in the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, the HCLA will continue to push for the introduction of this bipartisan legislation in the Senate and work to drive comprehensive reform to federal medical liability laws.

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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