Congress, Politics, Society, Torts

Obama To Cave On Tort Reform — Adding Provisions to Health Bill That Could Kill 4,800 a Year

In yet another morphing of George Bush and Barack Obama, the Administration has indicated that it will include “tort reform” in the new and smaller health care bill — provisions that the CBO has said could cost 4,800 lives a year. While an estimated roughly 100,000 people die each year from malpractice, the Administration is about to make it more difficult to sue doctors and hospitals.

What is particularly ironic is that Republicans have been objecting that the health care plan will lower the quality if health care, but they are moving to make it more difficult to sue over such malpractice.

The Congressional Budget Office says that the reforms will save $54 billion over 10 years, but it also notes that it could cost thousands of lives. Moreover, $54 billion over 10 years is not a lot of money in the context of $2.5 trillion we spend each year on health care, as Dick Durbin has noted.

The Democrats clearly want to pass anything that can be called health care reform at any cost, even if it means embracing such canards as these tort reform proposals. While I have supported some tort reforms in the past, we are experiencing a high level of malpractice in this country that is only fueled by caps on damages and other limits on liability. I have long opposed caps on liability as in this column, here.

Tort reform is a bit of a misnomer since reform implies a change for the better. For victims, it can be more like malpractice protection.

For the full story, click here.

108 thoughts on “Obama To Cave On Tort Reform — Adding Provisions to Health Bill That Could Kill 4,800 a Year”

  3. Bdaman:

    question for you, that young child that gave a pilot permission to take off has gotten his father suspended.

    The kid didn’t have any experience and was young and had never done any air traffic controlling in his life.

    Why did his father get suspended when the President has the same qualifications as the kid but is still in office? It doesn’t seem fair to me.

  8. CEJ you left the word TO out.

    Obama TO Cave on Tort Reform. He hasn’t caved yet, it’s a prediction.

  9. Please feel free to help me out here, as I may be missing something, but I don’t see anything in Professor Turley’s post or the linked article, supporting the title’s statement: “Obama caved on tort reform – adding provisions to health bill that could kill 4,800 a year.”

    While I would definitely share Professor Turley’s, Senator Durbin’s and many commentator’s outrage over “tort reform” if that had indeed been proposed, however I don’t see it here.

    The NYT web site has published the full “letter to Congressional leaders detailing 4 republican ideas put forward in last week’s health care meeting that he will consider.” IMHO the letter may be worth reading as it does not raise too much cause for alarm with regard to “tort reform” (although, what do I know, as I am not an attorney.)

    From the letter, President Obama is “proposing authorization for funding State Demonstrations of alternatives to resolving medical malpractice disputes, including health care courts…($23-$50 million in grants)…Currently this is an authorization which does not guarantee that the grants will be funded.”

    The President seems to be throwing the repugs a bone, as NAL has already pointed out Texas was proof enough.

    Quoting David Herszenhorn “Republicans are certain to dismiss the president’s overture as insufficient. They have already said the Democrats existing legislation cannot be fixed and must be discarded. But Mr. Obama is laying the groundwork for Democrats to press ahead while showing that they have listened and even incorporated some Republican ideas.”

    http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/obama-to-consider-four-republican-ideas-on-health-care/

    Personally, I had hoped for a lot less compromise by the Democrats, throughout this bill, as they have given away much (i.e. Public Option; with a special condemnation to Lie-bermen for killing the compromise-the age lowering of Medicare eligibility) with no gain in support by the obstructionists repugs; but maybe “something is better than nothing” at least for now, and as a place to start I will begin to hope again this bill may eventually pass.

  10. Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) will not seek reelection — after only one term in office.

    According to several House aides on both sides of the aisle, the House ethics committee has been informed of allegations that Massa, who is married with two children, sexually harassed a male staffer.

    Massa is now the 15th House Democrat to announce retirement plans, with 11 of them leaving districts that Republicans are aggressively contesting. House Republicans face 19 retirements within GOP ranks, but most of their departing members hail from safe seats.

    Massa’s departure also adds to the woes of New York Democrats, who have been on the defensive this week amid a scandal surrounding Gov. David Paterson, who announced he wasn’t running for election, and the tribulations involving embattled Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), who stepped down as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Wednesday.

    Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/33864.html#ixzz0h9IWMnVb

  11. Good Job Bob!!!! That one’s been around for awhile. I’ll be sending it out again today.

  12. Ecookie my information is a private matter. Had I wanted my birth certificate released I would have contacted Kenya directly.

  13. AY:
    “Those were not very nice. You will be known by your deeds.”

    Hows this for a deed?Although he paid the piper today.

  16. bdaman doesn’t know it, but we have been using the camera in his computer to record his reaction to different events. Here’s his reaction to the sharks in Australia.

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qfdf6q9HDg&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

  18. Yea I got in my inbox this morning. I normally don’t get spoofed by those but that one made me jump out of my chair.

  20. Ecookie did you see the link to the satellite of Bondi Beach Australia I linked above?

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