Health care costs are too high and getting worse — that much we all know. What fewer people see is why. As an attorney who defends health care providers, I’ve witnessed firsthand how our legal system, when distorted, can drive good doctors out of practice, complicate the resolution of legitimate claims and quietly make health care more expensive for everyone.
That’s why I was heartened to see Rep. Katy Hall and Sen. Scott Sandall champion HB503 — a bold, fair-minded reform aimed at one of the most unjust quirks of our courts: the use of “phantom damages.”
Phantom damages are inflated medical costs presented to juries in court — even though no one ever paid them, nor was expected to. Here’s how it works: A plaintiff introduces a hospital bill showing the full “sticker price” for medical care — often wildly inflated and far above what insurers or patients actually pay. But the defense? We’re barred from explaining that the real cost — the amount actually accepted by the provider — was just a fraction of that sticker price. So the jury, kept in the dark, may base their verdict on a fiction.
The result? A system that rewards inflated claims, punishes transparency and drives up the cost of care for everyone — not just the defendant in a particular case.
HB503 helps restore fairness and common sense. It ensures that damages reflect real costs — not contrived figures that serve no one but those looking to inflate verdicts. When our courts traffic in phantom numbers, they don’t just hurt doctors and hospitals. They harm patients. They strain insurance systems. They chip away at access to care in communities that need it most.
That’s why the Utah Medical Association, Copic and physicians across the state rallied behind this legislation. They know what’s at stake.
On behalf of the dedicated professionals I work with every day — and the Utah families who depend on them — I thank Rep. Hall and Sen. Sandall for their courage. They stood up and delivered a win for health care access, legal integrity and economic sanity.
If we’re serious about controlling health care costs and protecting access to care, we need more legislation like HB503.