KS: Conference Committee Adopts Increase in Med Mal Cap; No Collateral Source Reform

Late last month, I reported that the Kansas legislature was going to conference committee to raise the med mal cap.  Both the House and Senate adopted a gradual increase of the med mal cap on non-economic damages from $250K to $350K.  The difference between the two was over the collateral source rule.  The Senate version would have allowed jurors to hear testimony about whether a plaintiff’s damages were covered by insurance; the House version did not alter the collateral source rule.  The final version sent to Governor Brownback for his signature does not include collateral source reform.  The history of SB 311 is here.

–CJR