IA: House Passes Med Mal Reform Bill

The Iowa House passed a med mal reform bill after amending it to include a "soft cap" exception to the general cap of $250,000:

The key to winning bipartisan support for Senate File 465 was an amendment that removed a hard cap on non-economic damage awards “in the most egregious cases,” said the floor manager Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Marion. It would allow juries to make awards of more than $250,000 in cases of “substantial or permanent loss or impairment of bodily functions and substantial disfigurement.”

The Senate previously approved the bill without the exception, and the two bills will need to be reconciled.  The bill also includes a certificate of merit requirement.

The Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier has the story.