Medical tort reform is a waste of time and effort until many other aspects of healthcare are reformed. Statistically those massive malpractice premiums and additional testing only accounts for less than 1%-2% of overall health care spending. The same physician that you claim might be paying $1,400 a week for malpractice will be billing out $250,000-300,000 a week. The legal costs are tiny relate the enormous overall expense of health care.

One other thing to keep in mind is that the vast majority of medical malpractice lawsuits are not frivolous. Here is a link to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in late 2006 that attempts to determine how many malpractice suits were with or without merit http://www.rwjf.org/pr/synthesis/reports... So you should further chop down your numbers if you are only interesting in eliminating that minority of frivolous cases.

As for Missouri's malpractice reform how much money did that save the average Missourian in total? Our insurance rates have increased roughly the same as insurance rates have nationally. If their is any savings they are so small as to be lost in the statistical noise.

Ultimately it is penny-wise and pound foolish to worry about tort reform that has a slim possibility of a 1-2% cost reduction while at the same time we have a healthcare system averaging 6%-7% yearly increases in cost.

I find it disingenuous to quote the malpractice rates from a country that has a nationalized health care plan and then disregard that as a factor in your statistics.

I often think that people who support tort reform have been fortunate enough never to have known a person who has suffered a life-changing injury or consequence from the malpractice of a health-care professional. We should all be so lucky.

My neighbor's father had to have his leg amputated because of the provable negligence of his physician. He endured multiple surgeries, painful infections, was unable to work, and eventually had his leg cut off from the mid-thigh down.

Guess what? He can't sue the doctor because our legislature decided that the statute of limitations on medical malpractice should be two years from the date of the injury---not the date that the malpractice was discovered, and not three or five years like in other civil cases. No, our wise lawmakers figure that if you get injured and you don't realize it right away, the doctor shouldn't have to pay for his/her mistake. Unbelievable.

The man in question now lives with his daughter. His home was foreclosed on, he's been sued by multiple creditors, he filed for bankruptcy and now he's a walking shell of a human being.

Meanwhile, his doctor continues to practice. Seems fair.

Oh, yeah, back in 2000, and now, by bringing up the TORT REFORM lie, you not only wanted the vote of the docs, but their money as well.

A well written article, but completely off base. You can only use Germany as an example if the elected officials force a public option on the masses. Do you wonder why malpractice is cheap in Germany? How much luck do you have sueing the government? If we get a public option; TORT reform will not be necessary because there will be no such thing as malpractice. Funny how meglomania praises how great the German healthcare system is. Yeah their country and every other country that embraces the single payer system is having to reboot because of their inability to provide adequate care and national deficits. What will be the difference in those other countries and ours under a one payer system? The Germans just elected a very conservative bunch to fix the dadgumed mess surrounding business and healthcare. Funny; it looks like we are getting a glimpse of what we can expect our country to look like if the liberals in power get the things they want. Healthcare is an easy fix. TORT reform, single payer systems, and all these other stupid political measures will not fix healthcare nor ever will.They never have. My telling you what will fix healthcare will not matter; nor would any of you agree because you toe a party line. We live in Missouri so I guess we have to show you.

If the powers that be want to fix something I wish they would start by getting this economy on track. Why don't you all argue on that for a bit. This president is becoming a bigger joke than Carter. I voted for the man but I am sick of the finger pointing and shirking of responsibility. He needs to man up and do some work or just say he was not qualified for the job. You all keep praising him if you want, but enough is enough. Every policy he and his cronie's have introduced has fallen flat on bite and action. Now he wants to overhaul the healthcare system when he hasn't accomplished one thing of merit since he has taken the office. They haven't created jobs, they haven't stabilized the economy, and they are getting ready to escalate one of the two wars they are in. My advice is to concentrate on creating jobs and win these wars and bring our people home. There is time to do the other stuff later; like when other matters aren't as pressing.I assure you all that having the ability to go to a job that pays is a hell of a lot more important than the ability to go see a doctor. Getting free medical care for damn sure doesn't keep the bank from foreclosure.

howudoin,

Thank you. If you put TORT REFORM REPUBLICANS 2000 into your search engine all kinds of stories pop up. It was a surpirse for me when I did it, because I was expecting a lot of federal stories. They are there, but you can see the massive movement by Republicans to push for TORT REFORM and win in the state houses. Everyone hates a lawyer, until they need one, and the Republicans found a scape goat, the attorney, by making people think that it was the attorney who had driven the poor ole insurance company to raise their premiumns. It was a smoke screen, so that their insurance friends, could hike their rates, and blame it on attornies, and the stupid azz American who rarely checks anyting out, and usueally is involved in something more "fun" than the health of his freedom, is snowed because he hears his favorite talk show host, Rush parrot that it is the attornies, he hears a bit of discussion about it if he kicks on the nightly TV news, and what little he gets, and with his inability, or, unwillingness to do a modecum of research, he goew with what he hears most.... it is the lawyers that are scru-ing him, vote Republican.

Just search on TORT REFORM 2000 Republicans.....

" Republicans say time is nearing for tort reform: Mississippi's overhaul shouldn't influence West Virginia, Wise says "

Article from:Charleston Daily Mail Article date:October 10, 2002 Author:JIM WALLACE

"TRIUMPHANT BUSH PUTS TORT REFORM, JUDICIAL NOMINEES ON AGENDA."

"After the Nov. 5 midterm elections swept Republicans into control of the Senate and solidified the party's hold on the House, President Bush confidently called on lawmakers returning for this week's lame-duck session to pass the stalled terrorism insurance Terrorism insurance is insurance purchased by property owners to cover their potential losses and liabilities that might occur due to terrorist activities.

It is considered to be a difficult product for insurance companies, as the odds of terrorist attacks are very bill and laid out his agenda for the next Congress. .....Getting the terrorism insurance bill through the lame-duck session appears much more likely, as the Senate passed its version of the bill unanimously last summer.

The Senate bill, however, contained no ban on punitive damages Monetary compensation awarded to an injured party that goes beyond that which is necessary to compensate the individual for losses and that is intended to punish the wrongdoer. or other tort reform measures the House bill contained. .......... On other tort reform issues, such as restricting jury awards and limiting class-action suits, Bush will pick up additional support in the new session from three Republicans who captured Senate seats formerly held by Democrats in Missouri, Georgia and Minnesota. "

That was from the mid-term election in 2002. It worked for the Republicans back then to get them elected, and they stuck back in their pile of issues that can sway us, but when they get elected then never do a damn thing about it. ABORION is the most glaring issue that they used to get themselves elected then forgot all about it until it was time to trot the issue out two years hence and fool the voter, all over again.

If you don't think that these globalist scum like Jo Ann Emerson, and Obama are going to scru us blind, just wait.

Jo Ann Emerson voted TWICE to rip our pay checks out of our hands and give them to the Greedy, Gambling Wall Street bankers. Sure they spent our money on lavaish resort and spa retreats, gave all their execs and top employees who drove them into the ground, outrageous multi-million dollar bonuses with our stolen money, paid ridiculous salaries. Here's the zinger. Most of you know that they took our money, ran down the reputation and stock of banks, at that critical time when everyone was neverous as hell, that the bank was doing badly, then they swooped in and bought the bank at a greatly devalued price.

Now, it gets juicy. Jo Ann Emerson's Wall Street Banker cronies, started bundling up insurance policies, especially LIFE insurance policies, and they are just about to start prosituting them on the market, like they did mortgage home loans. You know that went so well, when the bankers got greedy, don't you remember last October? Well, now they own banks, they are going to offer Life insurance as a derivative market item, and what else? Oh, they took some of the money that Jo Ann Emerson stole from us, and gave to them, to buy up INSURANCE COMPANIES.

They own the banks, they bundled life insurance to start a new market rip-off, and they bought up the insurance companies. Now what?

They are pushing Jo Ann Emerson, who is already on board to scru us on this health care NO REFORM plan, and other persons close to the insurance industry, which is just about every damn Democrat and scummy Republican in D.C, save a handful. They want this plan where every single American would be FORCED to buy insurance. That gives the insurance companies a ready market, a captive market that we have no recourse from, as if we lose our health insurance at work, we will be FORCED to buy our own. We have been slaves to these low lifes for years under the intolerable IRS, now, we will be the slaves of Jo Ann Emerson's Wall Street and foreign banker slimes, and to top it off, slaves to the insurance industry.

What about those bundled up Life Insuance policies that Wall Street intends to sell, like they did home mortgages and got into trouble? Well, the only way that the bankers win on their purchase of your life insurance policy, is if you DIE....DIE.... DIE.... So, guess which way that the mis labeled "healthcare" reform is going to go? You think in your favor, so effort and money is spent to keep you alive, when they are holding your Life insurance policy that will make them stinking rich if you DIE NOW?

Think, for God's sake, think...

howudoin,

I would like to fully reply to your worthy post.

However, that may take a day, or, so, as I must rest.

To sum it up, I do not believe that we are a capitalist economy. We have been morphed into a managed economy based upon corporatism, or, corporate fascism, where certain elements are entertwined incestously with that of governemtn.

more later, but that is the nut of it.

There will be no recovery, other than a brief period which appears to be a fiancial recover on Wall Street. As for Main Street, small business, and many who now have jobs, there will be no jobs, no recovery, because this is not an issue of either we, or, the government fixing anything. This is entire collapse has been contrived, carefully planned, and executed.

That is why the "solution" was so rapidly put in place by Bush and his Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, with the aid of Tim Geithner, then head of the NYC private banker owned Federal Reserve bank. Geithner, is of course, now Obama's Treasury Secretary.

Nothing changes, it all remains the same, except for minor, or, non issues which are hyped in the attempt to promote the lie that there is a difference between the Bush and Obama, Clinton, and GHW Bush regimes.

Nothing changes, as we accelerate toward their New World Order.

The only way that we can "fix it", in your words, would frighten the moderators here on Speak Out, and probably many of the viewers.

As a Serbian Reservist sniper told me during the Clinton War of Agression on Serbia - Kosovo, "You are living in Dangerous times." As Clinton was bombing his nation, unprovoked, and killing thousands of his countrymen, I wondered why he was telling me that I was living in "dangerous times."

I now know. Nothing is as it seems, there is a hidden agenda of these globalists that is becoming not so hidden.

Most Americans are not mentally prepared for what would be necessary to "fix it," nor, are they physically equipped, or, operationally prepared to "fix" our problem.