MAJ Legislative Update - March 2016

Dear Members:

The 2016 General Assembly Session has been very busy. MAJ's team of professional lobbyists has been working with our Legislative Committee on a broad and positive agenda, which is briefly outlined below:

Insurance Stacking - HB 667 (Barkley) / SB 553 (Astle)

These bills reform the auto insurance law to allow Marylanders to purchase insurance policies with stacking coverages, which would increase the available UIM insurance in every case where the tortfeasor has some, but not enough, liability coverage. The bill has been referred to a Senate workgroup, which will include MAJ and other stakeholders.

Punitive Damages against High Risk Drunk Drivers - 

SB 302 (Raskin) / HB 864 (Smith)

A multi-year effort is reaching its climax as the General Assembly is closer than ever to authorizing the recovery of punitive damages in MVA cases arising from the wrongful conduct of certain "high risk drunk drivers."  With amendments, the Maryland Senate passed our bill unanimously; MAJ's focus has turned to the House Judiciary Committee, where the bill failed by three votes last year.  In that regard, MAJ also has supported two "dram shop" bills - HB 345 (Dumais) and HB 1196 (Angel).

Medical Records Costs - HB 724 (Oaks) / SB 462 (Conway)

MAJ's legislative proposal to curb abuses in the pricing of medical records was well-received in both hearings; the strongest opposition came from AHIOS, an association of health information outsourcing contractors.  MAJ is currently in discussions with MedChi and the Maryland Hospital Association about legislative language.

Tort Claims Act Reform - SB 575 (Ramirez)

Following increases in the applicable caps under the State and Local Government Tort Claims Acts, this bill would increase the separate cap applicable to claims brought against public schools. The current per-occurrence damages cap of $100,000 (for all economic and non-economic damages arising from a single occurrence, no matter how many plaintiffs are involved) has not been increased in decades, and that cap is plainly inadequate to cover the injuries that might arise, e.g., in a severe school bus accident.

Catastrophic Cap - SB 574 (Ramirez) / HB 869 (Carter)

Maryland's non-economic damages cap increases by $15,000 annually, but even at current levels the cap unfairly limits recoveries in cases involving catastrophic personal injury or death. MAJ continued working to bring a common-sense "catastrophic cap" proposal to the Governor's desk. Hearings have been held in both chambers, with victim testimony providing the most compelling justifications for why our cap statute needs to be reformed in such cases.

Structured Settlement Transfers

Effective January 1, 2016, the Court of Appeals adopted new Rules applicable to transfers of money payable under structured settlements. MAJ played a leading role in helping to create those Rules, Title 15, Ch. 1300. Working with stakeholders, MAJ has monitored the relevant legislative proposals, including legislation proposed by Attorney General Brian Frosh to amend and strengthen the Structured Settlement Protection Act.

Of course, in addition to our ambitious positive agenda, there are always dozens and dozens of bills that MAJ works to oppose. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to contact me privately by e-mail at gtolley@medicalneg.com.

Many thanks to everyone who assists with MAJ's advocacy efforts.

 

George S. Tolley III, 

Chair of the MAJ Legislative Committee

Dugan, Babij, Tolley & Kohler, LLC