Posted on 05/17/2008 1:31:28 AM PDT by Puzzleman
-- snip --
In 2003 and in 2005, Texas enacted a series of reforms to the state's civil justice system. They are stunning in their success. Texas Medical Liability Trust, one of the largest malpractice insurance companies in the state, has slashed its premiums by 35%, saving doctors some $217 million over four years. There is also a competitive malpractice insurance industry in Texas, with over 30 companies competing for business. This is driving rates down...
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Malpractice insurance is just killing doctors...
It must be hell to be an obstetrician....
Despite these results I don’t think we did the right thing. Instead of implementing caps on jury awards I would rather we had abolished class action lawsuits and imposed the loser pays rule. And I think those changes should apply to all civil suits, not just medical malpractice.
“Maybe the states can act to make needed changes even if the federal government can’t.”
Federalism is a beautiful thing. It’s like the free market for government. Now States will start competing for these doctors just like the insurance companies in Texas are competing for them.
"Maybe the states can act to make needed changes even if the federal government won't...."
There, that's fixed.
One of my neighbors is a doctor. He's been talking about moving to Texas for this reason for a couple of years now.
Ah, capitalism at work. Better than government involvement, isn't it?
Ah, capitalism at work. Better than government involvement, isn't it?
Well, I don’t think the libs need worry. They’ll just ask the new congress to make laws FORBIDDING doctors to move to TX. /sarc off
Unfortunately, this has attracted the most incompetent doctors to Texas. The cap on damages is for patients who die from malpractice and there is no economic damage. So the very young and very old are not considered valuable enought to their families to warrant a financial settlement. My elderly father who died in the ICU had very little done by the hospital and doctors to keep him alive. Too much to be gained if he died and too much to lose if he lived! What a position for the medical community to be in.
I recently changed careers to staffing and over 50% of the new jobs being created in Texas are medical related. Even with the expansion of drilling activity and resurrection of closed fields the job growth is dramatically out pacing even the energy sector.
I challenge you to provide any proof for your assertion about “incompetent” doctors. Anecdotes are not the same as scientific data.
BUMP
Texas is doing a lot right. The state unemployment rate is 4.1 with a rate of 3.8 in the Ft Worth/Arlington area.
bookmark
I fully agree. And, the loser pays everything including winners lost time at work, expenses of going to court, all attornies' fees, court costs, etc. If this were the way it was, a lot more disputes would be settled out of court.
I think the realization of that might be part of the health care hysteria coming from the left. If they don't get socialized medicine now they may never get it.
Explain
Hard to answer since no lawyer in Texas will pursue a case. The reason for the law was to bring down medical cost and I have yet to see it. The doctors pocket the savings and they live very well.
Real malpractice is still being litigated. The lawsuit lottery has been shut down and many lawyer scum put out of business, which can only be a good thing.
The reason for the law was to bring down medical cost and I have yet to see it.
Wrong. The reason for the law was to prevent the medical profession from being driven out of the state by the greedy filthy plaintiff's lawyer scum.
The doctors pocket the savings and they live very well.
Good. Better them than the pirate lawyers. When we lived in Texas, my wife's OB-GYN paid more in malpractice insurance than she took home herself. I am delighted that she is taking money back out of the bulging pockets of the filthy lawyer scum.
-ccm
From the article.....
Supporters of the curb on jury awards had said that malpractice laws were responsible for shortages of doctors in rural Texas, specifically highlighting 152 counties that did not have an obstetrician. But an analysis in Texas Observer magazine found that as of September, the same number of counties remains without one. It also found that 124 counties have no obstetrician, neurosurgeon, or orthopedic surgeon.
Well we still have a shortage in poor areas.
When we lived in Texas, my wife's OB-GYN paid more in malpractice insurance than she took home herself.
I don't believe that for one moment. The average net take home of a ob-gyn is around 300k year.
From the article.....
His medical malpractice insurance alone was cut to $5,031 in Texas, from $11,300 in Maine last year.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.