Bad Law and the Law of Unintended Consequences Snare Iowa Veterans, Expectant Mothers

As the 2023 Iowa legislative session gets started, we reflect on a 2017 law that has created a mess in Iowa for our veterans and for expecting parents. It is a classic example of bad law and unintended consequences, and we should push our legislators to repeal it immediately

In 2017, Iowa lawmakers passed a "soft cap" of $250,000 on jury awards for non-economic damages in medical negligence cases. This is an immoral government-mandated limit on the value of life in court cases, but it has an important caveat: the jury (and only the jury) can decide a case above the cap if they determine that it involves a death or life-altering injury.

Unfortunately, two vulnerable populations have been snared by the net of unintended consequences created by this law, which allows the federal government and insurance companies to callously and cold-heartedly deprive veterans and expectant mothers of their individual rights.

Veterans in this county do not benefit from a jury trial when they've been harmed or killed at a Veteran's Administration (VA) hospital. Congress wrongly stripped them of these rights decades ago. Instead, a negligence case involving the VA must be handled through what is called a 'bench trial' where a judge - and no jury - will hear the case. The judge decides the outcome, including the damages to be awarded.

Now, here is where that 2017 "soft cap" barges in. Iowa lawmakers wrote that only a jury could determine that a case should be decided above that $250,000 cap. As there is no jury in VA cases, the U.S. Attorney General has taken the position that this state cap must apply in all cases. When Iowa veterans are killed or injured by negligent medical care at a VA hospital, state lawmakers have set a government-mandated limit on the value of their lives at no more than $250,000! That's more than unjust; it's immoral.

But it gets worse. Recently an expecting mother in Iowa lost her baby due to medical malpractice. She filed a claim against the negligent hospital. And again, the 2017 "soft cap" and law of unintended consequences come into play. Iowa lawmakers wrote that juries could only exceed that cap when a death or life-altering injury occurs. The hospital's insurance company has taken the position that there is no death or life-altering injury unless the baby was first born alive.

These examples demonstrate just how cold-hearted the insurance industry and even the government can be and how any deprivation of our individual Constitutional rights can have disastrous consequences. Clearly, the unintended consequences of the 2017 "soft cap" are unacceptable. Our Iowa legislators and governor must be reminded of their responsibilities in protecting our rights and representing the people. Special interests must be put on the sidelines when the right to trial by jury is at stake.

Contact your lawmakers today. Ask them to Repeal the 2017 Soft Cap, and stand firm to make sure no such law is passed ever again in our state.

Accountable Iowa

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