Nursing Home Bill Tabled

{Frankfort, Kentucky}...House Health and Welfare Chairman Representative Tom Burch said Thursday that a controversial proposal that would require lawsuits against nursing homes to go before a medical review panel before being filed in court will not be voted on this legislative session. Burch says the bill will need further study and work, but it's possible the issue will be reconsidered this summer. Lawyers for the nursing home industry testified that personal injury lawyers know nursing homes will settle rather than pay for three to five years of litigation, even if the nursing homes believe a claim is bogus. They say lawsuits are driving up malpractice insurance and the cost of care in Kentucky.