The Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) limit on attorney fees will be restructured and its cap on noneconomic damages will be increased now that Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed Assembly Bill (AB) 35 into law.
AB 35 was proposed to modernize the medical malpractice system for awarding damages.
“It will provide ongoing predictability for healthcare providers and medical liability insurers and ensure access to the courts for injured patients,” said Tiger Joyce, president of the American Tort Reform Association.
Introduced by Assembly Majority Leader Eloise Gómez Reyes and State Senator Tom Umberg, the measure was co-sponsored by the Consumer Attorneys of California and Californians Allied for Patient Protection
“The passage of A.B. 35 is the result of extensive negotiations between multiple interested parties, and the bipartisan votes in both houses of the California legislature reflect the balanced compromise it represents,” Joyce told the Southern California Record.
Prior law limited an attorney’s contingency fee to the amount recovered in litigation and restricted non-economic damages to $250,000.
The new law provides for future increases to account for inflation.
“A balanced medical liability system protects both the rights of injured persons and access to health care for all patients, particularly those in need of treatment by high-risk specialists,” Joyce added.
The limit for non-economic damages will rise to $500,000 in wrongful death litigation. Thereafter, the limit will rise on the first day of the year by $50,000 until it reaches $1 million. For medical malpractice litigation that does not involve wrongful death claims, the limit begins with $350,000 and rises each year by $40,000 up to $750,000.