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Senator Brian W. Jones (R-Santee) cast his second vote this week in favor of a measure to update the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA), which was originally enacted in 1975 and later amended as part of the famous “napkin deal” in 1987.
Jones voted in favor of Assembly Bill 35 earlier this week in the Senate Judiciary Committee and again on the Senate Floor today.
“This is a win for patients, medical professionals, and ratepayers,” stated Senator Brian W. Jones. “Updating MICRA is vitally needed to keep our healthcare provider system and medical malpractice laws in balance. Patients who have won a malpractice award deserve to be adequately compensated, doctors who have good records of providing quality care deserve to have their insurance coverage costs stabilized, and all of us who pay health insurance premiums, copays, or out-of-pocket expenses deserve to have our rates and medical expenses kept as affordable as possible. AB 35 is a strong bipartisan measure that came together through a collaborative consensus among many former adversaries which ultimately will benefit Californians.”
AB 35, authored by Assemblymember Eloise Gómez Reyes (D-Colton) and Senator Thomas Umberg (D-Santa Ana), passed the Senate Floor today 37-1 and now goes back to the Assembly for a Concurrence vote before being sent to the Governor for his signature.