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In a press
conference on Friday, a new group, the Colordado Citizens for
Accountability (CCA) announced that it will organize to oppose
additional tort-reforms in Colorado. "I assure you we won't sit
by in silence and watch well-organized and well-funded assaults
on the civil justice system by companies with money and power,"
CCA Director Patty Skolnik
told the Denver Post.
The Colorado Civil
Justice League has been on hand to learn more about this group
and its efforts to dilute the important tort reforms passed
since the late 1980's. Those reforms have been important to
containing health care costs while maintaining patients' access
to the courts.
The Post reports
CCA as "mobilizing patients' rights groups locally and
nationwide to take on the powerful insurance lobby." A CCA press
release says those same companies "unfairly raise rates, refuse
to pay for care and charge more for less."
The group's
initial focus will be on medical malpractice issues,
particularly the cap on punitive damages currently set at
$250,000. While the CCA argues this is set too low, the
CCJL's Jeff Weist explains how the cap came to be.
"Our caps are reasonable, we think," Weist told the Rocky
Mountain News. "Otherwise you find yourself in the situation
that, frankly, Colorado faced in the late 1980s when those caps
were created, which is insurance that is unaffordable or even
unavailable because of runaway jury awards."
The CCJL will keep
you updated on our efforts to protect Colorado's business
climate and tort reforms. Every medical mistake is a tragedy,
but the CCJL and its allies are committed to keeping the justice
system fair and equitable for both parties - and not skew the
system too far toward the plaintiffs or defendants.
Learn more about the CCJL at
CCJL.org
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