The bill, called the Family Health Care Accessibility Act, co-sponsored by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), would extend malpractice insurance through the Federal Tort Claims Act, which currently covers employees, contractors and board members but not medical practitioners like physicians and dentists.
Sen. Thune said in the release that rural health clinics in states like South Dakota often depend on volunteer physicians who are “sometimes deterred by the high cost of medical malpractice insurance.”
Dan Hawkins, senior vice president for public policy at NACHC, said the bill would ease recruitment of volunteer medical professionals to underserved communities.
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