Meet Our Award-Winning Government Relations Team

February 2025—TDC Group leads the industry with a dedicated, award-winning Government Relations team and the only medical liability advocacy program covering all 50 states and the federal government. Our in-house team has been actively advocating on behalf of medical professionals in the U.S. since our founding in 1976.

Most other medical professional liability insurers do not engage at all or have one staff member who works in claims or the legal department that can only dedicate part of their time to government relations work. Our Government Relations team is solely committed to legislative, regulatory, and judicial advocacy on a full-time basis. In addition to our dedicated in-house team, Government Relations engages on-the-ground legislative advocates in more than 15 states and in Washington, DC.

The sheer volume of legislative activity in the country could be enough to stop most carriers’ government relations efforts in their tracks—but not our Government Relations team. With more than 150,000 bills introduced each year in state and federal legislatures, our team constantly monitors legislation that impacts our members and clients and advocates on their behalf. More than 30 states have enacted medical liability reform laws to promote access to healthcare; however, these laws are constantly under attack. Our team works continuously at the legislative level to counter such threats—as well as on the judicial level with a robust amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief program—to defend these hard-won protections. 

Because TDC Group encompasses more product lines than just medical professional liability insurance, our advocacy work extends to support all members and clients of The Doctors Company, TDC Specialty Underwriters, and Healthcare Risk Advisors.

All of these facts cannot be overstated. There is truly no comparison to be made between other carriers and TDC Group. When we say we are relentlessly committed to supporting medical liability reform and to safeguarding patients’ access to healthcare care, we mean it.

Here is an introduction to our Government Relations team and the critical work they perform to protect and support healthcare practitioners throughout the nation.

Government Relations Leader

Elizabeth Healy
Vice President,
Government and Community Relations

Vice President Elizabeth Healy began her career in government relations more than 30 years ago and has been involved in political campaigns and fundraising, grassroots organizing, state government, and legislative advocacy in the United States, and the United Kingdom. Elizabeth directs political and advocacy strategies nationwide, and in Washington, DC, for TDC Group. She joined The Doctors Company over 16 years ago after already working with the organization as an external partner.

Elizabeth is also responsible for corporate charitable giving and is the Executive Director of The Doctors Company Foundation, which provides grants to advance patient safety research and education. She holds a bachelor’s degree in social science from California State University and studied international public policy at King’s College, University of London.

Government Relations Team Members

Dennis Chiu, JD
Director

Laura Lawson
Executive Assistant

Jaci Runge
Political Operations
Specialist

Remi Stone, JD
Director

James Willett, JD
Director

Around the nation, our Government Relations team has built diverse political relationships with a broad coalition of healthcare interests, trade associations, political organizations, and public policy makers that work with us to support medical liability reform and other key initiatives of importance to our members and clients.

For example, in working with our coalition partners in 2024, we saw the culmination of our advocacy efforts to defeat attempts at the ballot box and in state legislatures to repeal existing medical liability reform laws in such states as California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, New York, Virginia, and Washington.

Key Advocacy Successes in 2024

• California: Defeated a bill that would have effectively skirted the MICRA cap on damages in all cases involving elders, and a veto request was granted on another bill that would have lowered the standards of proof in these cases.

• California: Provided financial support to defeat Measure C, which would have imposed an extraordinary new services tax burden on healthcare providers.

• Colorado: Reached a legislative resolution to thwart ballot measures that would have 1) eliminated all caps on noneconomic damages in wrongful death and personal injury cases with few exceptions, and 2) permitted access to most medical records, effectively gutting protected peer review.

• Florida: Defeated a bill that would have significantly increased the damages recoverable in a wrongful death action.

• Michigan: Defeated legislation that would have eliminated caps and gutted medical liability reforms.

• New York: Launched a successful advocacy and grassroots campaign to urge New York Governor Hochul to veto the 2024 iteration of the Grieving Families Act.

• New York: Preserved the Medical Indemnity Fund, which helps children injured by medical malpractice, that was underfunded and at risk of being suspended indefinitely.

• Virginia: Defeated legislation that would have removed the state’s cap on medical liability damages involving patients 10 years of age or younger.

• Washington: Defeated bills that would have significantly increased prejudgment interest amounts awarded to plaintiffs.

Wins During the Last Election Cycle

TDC Group actively engages to support candidates for public office for election or re-election that are open to supporting and preserving medical liability reforms. During the election cycle, we participated in a total of 280 races for public office. Of those, 250 candidates won their elections—an 89 percent win rate. Learn more about National Trends and Key Takeaways from the 2024 Election.

Contributing to political action committees makes a difference. You can join The Doctors Company’s state and federal political action committees (DOCPACs), which support candidates for elected office that are open to supporting medical liability reform in their respective states and in Congress.

How Else Can You Get Involved?

While the election may be over for 2024, it’s crucial for healthcare practitioners like you to engage with elected officials to emphasize the importance of medical liability reforms on an ongoing basis. We urge you to reach out to your elected officials and introduce yourself to lawmakers and their staff. Offering yourself as a resource to provide perspectives on healthcare issues that matter makes an impact. Rather than coming with a specific “ask” each time, building a two-way relationship can be a more successful approach to helping influence policy decisions. 

As leaders in the medical community, your experience provides an excellent, humanizing viewpoint to build trust. It may take time and patience to achieve meaningful results from your interactions with policymakers, so it’s a good idea for you to connect with your representatives and establish a rapport with them and their staff. The sooner you’re able to start a dialogue, the more valuable your input will be as they navigate turning ideas into policy.

Together, we can help protect and expand medial liability protections for healthcare practitioners to ensure access to healthcare in our communities. Learn more about how you can take action and get involved to make your voice heard and advocate for medical liability reform.

If you have questions or would like to know more about TDC Group’s advocacy efforts, visit thedoctors.com/advocacy or email the Government Relations team at Advocacy@thedoctors.com.

This document is Proprietary. The information contained in this document is not intended to be and does not constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and material are for general information purposes only. This is not an exhaustive list of laws and regulations applicable to this subject matter; others may apply.