This article was originally published on The Hill and was written by F. Paul Bland Jr. All rights for this article belong to Capitol Hill Publishing Group.
The GOP has long had the brand of being the party of states’ rights and minimalist federal government — it’s no wonder that Paul Ryan has been thinking about sending Medicaid back to the states since he was in college. Indeed, one of the reasons cited by House Republican leadership in the battle over the American Health Care Act for why Medicaid funding should be distributed to states in block grants with fewer federal requirements is that it empowers states to design Medicaid programs that meet each particular state’s needs.
But when it comes to the topic of placing sharp limits on lawsuits by individuals who’ve been injured by negligent or abusive nursing homes or defective drugs, the bill being pushed by Republican leadership (H.R. 1215, the Protecting Access to Care Act) embraces the view that’s what’s good for Medicaid isn’t good for civil justice.
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