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”

  1. Mespo:

    “Also what we all agree on is not that billions of dollars are wasted by that thousands of lives are wasted by the substandard medicine we are receiving.”

    you on medicaid or medicare or VA?

    We have Blue Cross/Blue Shield and they treat us pretty well. And all our doctors are excellent.
    We used to have Aetna and they were even better.

  2. mkirschmd:

    “As a physician who has been unfairly sued repeatedly, I have a different view of tort reform than the author. All agree we are wasting billions of dollars. This is probably an underestimate as there is no way to measure defensive medicine. Nearly every physician in the country is hostile to the present system.”

    ************

    You neglected to tell us if you (or your multi-billion dollar insurer) had to pay any of these “unfair” claims. An oversight I am sure. Also what we all agree on is not that billions of dollars are wasted by that thousands of lives are wasted by the substandard medicine we are receiving. And after all my good physician, aren’t lives the most precious commodity to those, like you, sworn to heal and comfort the sick?

  3. mkirschmd
    “most patients who deserve compensation from negligence are never captured by the system.”

    Translation please.

  5. As a physician who has been unfairly sued repeatedly, I have a different view of tort reform than the author. All agree we are wasting billions of dollars. This is probably an underestimate as there is no way to measure defensive medicine. Nearly every physician in the country is hostile to the present system. Doesn’t this suggest that the medical liablity system needs to be reformed? Finally, most patients who deserve compensation from negligence are never captured by the system. Visit http://www.MDWhistlblower.blogspot.com under Legal Quality for some balance on this issue.

  6. Rafflaw:

    I have often said that political and economic freedom are corollaries. I think this link is an example of that statement. I was against the TARP bailout on principle. I hope you will read this article and understand what I mean.

    When there is not economic freedom there is not political freedom and when there is not political freedom there is not economic freedom.

    The implication I take from this story is that Henry Paulson would be more than happy to stifle the press if he felt it was in his interest to do so.

    http://www.economist.com/business-finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15596378&fsrc=rss

  7. You people are just lucky that you don’t even need to rely on “heath care” because you have the money. I hope that the President realize the America is never a country without people and these people put him to power ; and now he is giving this crap to his very own people?!

  8. Obama is easily the WEAKEST and WORST President this nation has ever had.

    With luck, Democrats will lose the House & Senate in November.

  9. I sent that to my good friend who voted for Obama and is a firm believer in global warming. You think he’s screwed up. He’s in the limo and airport shuttle business. I told him going green was gonna shut him down. NEXT

  10. I’m not buying the argument that tort reform would cost 4,800 lives per year and therefore it is a bad idea. By that argument cars should be limited to 35 MPH, perhaps saving 10,000 lives per year.

    Tort “reform” is a bad idea because the federal government has no authority to dictate these limits to the States, and it is immoral for government to set limits on damages for future cases they cannot possibly know anything about. How is it that we believe juries are smart enough to make decisions involving a death penalty but are not intelligent enough to limit damages in malpractice cases?

    One little-challenged assumption underlying our medical regulation is that government bureaucracy is necessarily superior to the potential of self-policing among medical care providers. We know that a small fraction of practitioners make up the vast majority of malpractice claims. We know that government frequently permits these individuals to continue to endanger years after it is clear that they are incompetent. Were this decision to practice one that was instead made by more competent peers in a self-policing model, far fewer butchers would be practicing today. Until then, so-called tort reform will only heighten the risk of receiving poor care.

  12. Bdaman:

    $7 dollar a gallon, hell why not just make it $20 bucks and do what they want to do anyway-keep us from driving and forcing us to take public transportation. who the f . . . is in charge of this Insane-asylum called 21st century America?

  14. Then this is for you Byron and I would encourage you and my other fellow Americans to join.

    Thank you for joining the online tax revolt and marching for America. Check back often to see your avatar and your progression from your home to Washington, DC on Tax Day, April 15.

    We will be sending you periodic emails with updates on where your avatar is and the latest news about the march.

    This tax revolt is a wake-up call to everyone in Washington that the American people won’t be ignored any longer. We must stop the government spending and we must lower taxes and reform the tax code. Please ask others to join you for the online march at http://www.OnlineTaxRevolt.com by forwarding this email to everyone in your address book now.

  15. Bdaman:

    thanks for the link, this is my favorite line of the piece:

    “The rationale for this one is to cover the employers’ mandatory contribution to the City’s “Healthy San Francisco” health-coverage system. The charge actually is levied on employers, but at least some restaurants are adding a few dollars or percentage points to each customer’s bill to cover this charge.”

    Is he for real? Who does this idiot (Ed Perkins) think is going to pay for an added tax? The business owner passes them on to his customers to the extent the market will allow him to.

    Lets see, hmm, gas costs about $2.65 a gallon of which about $0.50 are direct taxes so gas should cost about $2.15 a gallon. Actually it would probably be even less than that if everyone along the way wasn’t adding there little portion for the taxes they have to pay as well.

    I wonder how much a hamburger would cost in a free market? Mixed economy upscale burger costs about $9 bucks what with property taxes, employee taxes, sales taxes, transportation taxes, paying for the Ag stamp, the kick backs to health inspectors, free lunches to the mayor and his cronies to make sure your zoning doesn’t change, ADA compliance costs, insurance to protect against a frivolous law suit, money for storm water management, business license, gross receipts tax, compliance with disposal of grease and other “hazardous” materials, . . .

    Jesus, I bet that burger would almost be free. Sheeit, if I was selling em I would be charging $15 just for all the hassle it takes to make a burger in a mixed economy. It is a wonder any get made at all.

  18. Bdaman:

    I already checked it out, that was very interesting about the sharks and how they interact with the bathers. I have heard that it looks like that on any American beach as well.

  19. The previously unknown DOJ Attorney’s who represented terror Gitmo suspects have now been revealed. The Attorney’s now known as “The Al Qaeda 7” have been outed by the group Keep America Safe.

    The names were confirmed by a Justice Department spokesman, who said “politics has overtaken facts and reality” in a tug-of-war over the lawyers’ identities.

    “Department of Justice attorneys work around the clock to keep this country safe, and it is offensive that their patriotism is being questioned,” said Justice Department Spokesman Matt Miller.

    http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/03/03/exclusive-unknown-doj-lawyers-identified/

  20. He must be a Sinatra fan and insist on doing it his way. Desperate people do desperate things.

    Obama Now Selling Judgeships for Health Care Votes?

    Tonight, Barack Obama will host ten House Democrats who voted against the health care bill in November at the White House; he’s obviously trying to persuade them to switch their votes to yes. One of the ten is Jim Matheson of Utah. The White House just sent out a press release announcing that today President Obama nominated Matheson’s brother Scott M. Matheson, Jr. to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

    http://weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-now-selling-appeals-court-judgeships-health-care-votes

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