Bill > H5903

This bill repeals the collateral source rule in medical malpractice actions, which is a legal doctrine that currently prevents defendants from introducing evidence of payments or benefits a plaintiff has received from sources other than the defendant (such as health insurance, workers' compensation, or disability insurance). Under the existing law, if a defendant in a medical malpractice lawsuit wanted to introduce evidence of such third-party payments, they could do so, and the jury would be instructed to reduce the damages award by the amount of benefits received. By repealing this section of law, the bill would eliminate this practice, effectively preventing defendants from introducing evidence of payments from collateral sources during medical malpractice trials. The bill would take effect immediately upon passage, meaning that the repeal would apply to medical malpractice actions filed after the bill becomes law. The key impact is that it removes a potential method defendants could use to reduce the damages awarded to a plaintiff in a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Justice

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