Public Doesn't Want Healthcare Reform to Die

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

DIE!!!!!!!!

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

DIE!!!!!!!!

Why do you want to kill something that you declared dead long ago?

[Pooky 3,872]

The republican really want tort reform, although its probably the least effective measure to control costs. There is no link between malpractice insurance rates and health insurance rates in a given state. Thats not to say we shouldn't do something about it, but its effect on cost will be less than 1 percent.

As a direct consequence of amending medical professionals' insurance rates, maybe.

But when you factor in the knock-on effects of tort reform, your 1% is a little on the light side. Tort reform isn't just about limiting the liability of medical professionals when something goes wrong. It means more medical professionals will enter and be able to stay in the system, rather than being forced out financially by the burden of their liability insurance, should one decision they make not be absolutely spot on. When medical professionals feel safer trusting their judgement and don't feel the need to cover their behinds by ordering batteries of tests that prove nothing except that they have been "exhaustive" in their diagnoses, the cost of treatment will come down, too. The cumulative effect of tort reform is worth the effort, because the end result is a good deal more than just a 1% reduction in cost.

That's not to say that a serious error of judgement should get a free pass. Far from it. But there are Boards of Inquiry that can, and do, deal with the competence of medical professionals. Let their peers determine whether they can continue to practice medicine, not their insurance carrier.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

As a direct consequence of amending medical professionals' insurance rates, maybe.

But when you factor in the knock-on effects of tort reform, your 1% is a little on the light side. Tort reform isn't just about limiting the liability of medical professionals when something goes wrong. It means more medical professionals will enter and be able to stay in the system, rather than being forced out financially by the burden of their liability insurance, should one decision they make not be absolutely spot on. When medical professionals feel safer trusting their judgement and don't feel the need to cover their behinds by ordering batteries of tests that prove nothing except that they have been "exhaustive" in their diagnoses, the cost of treatment will come down, too. The cumulative effect of tort reform is worth the effort, because the end result is a good deal more than just a 1% reduction in cost.

The CBO disagrees with you. They would tell you that a 1% cost savings is actually double the rate that could be expected - direct and knock-off effects combined.

CBO now estimates that implementing a typical package of tort reform proposals nationwide would reduce total U.S. health care spending by about 0.5 percent (about $11 billion in 2009). That figure is the sum of a direct reduction in spending of 0.2 percent from lower medical liability premiums and an additional indirect reduction of 0.3 percent from slightly less utilization of health care services.

$11 billion in savings is great but when total healthcare spending exceeds $2.5 trillion a year, it's just a tiny drop in the bucket.