A coalition representing medical professionals, Coloradans Protecting Patient Access (CPPA), responded with proposals to limit contingency fees from wrongful death or personal injury suits and to require attorneys representing clients on such claims to disclose a “good faith estimate” of litigation and court costs in writing.
The groups agreed to withdraw their competing proposals with the passage of H.B. 1472, which Polis signed into law on Monday afternoon.
“Thanks to this bipartisan legislation we are preventing costly and divisive ballot measures that would be bad for the future of Colorado. This law will protect patient rights while saving Coloradans money on healthcare, creating a more affordable future for all of us,” Polis said in a statement after the signing.
CTLA president Kari Jones Dulin, who is also a partner at the personal injury firm Dulin McQuinn Young LLP, said the compromise will increase damages caps “substantially.”
“Going to the ballot, which we were 100 percent intending to do, isn’t without risk and not without cost. So I think it makes common sense that we can accomplish our goal by coming to the table,” said Jones Dulin. “We are walking away feeling that we made generational changes in cap increases for Coloradans, and they will only continue to increase with inflation in the future.”
