Recently a bill was introduced in Congress that would drastically reduce the ability of medical negligence victims to recover for their injuries and hold those responsible accountable.

The bill, titled “Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare Act of 2016” is a retread of a previous attempt 4 years ago to pass federal medical negligence tort reform.

The law would limit the amount of money that a victim could recover for their pain, suffering and related “non-economic” damages, and would limit the amount attorneys could charge in fees, among other things.

Simply put, such a bill, if passed, would have the effect of significantly limiting the number of medical negligence cases that would be filed, and the number of claimants that would recover. By reducing the number of claims filed, fewer claimants would have the opportunity for a jury of peers to decide whether the health care provider should be responsible for the harm caused.

This would allow insurance companies who provide liability coverage for doctors to pay less for claims. And medical institutions would have less incentive to provide non-negligent care. And, in a society such as ours that encourages entities to profit from providing health care, that is no small point.

People much smarter than I believe this current bill will not become law. However, with a looming presidential election and the possibility of a Republican President and Republican majorities in the House and the Senate, another iteration of this bill may be revived, and passed. If it does, I believe health care will become less safe for everyone.