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Tort Reform? Try Tort Expansion.
HotAir.com ^ | September 11, 2009 | Ed Morrissey

Posted on 09/13/2009 5:39:47 PM PDT by raptor22

Barack Obama offered this "olive brancn" to Republicans during his health care overhaul speech to the joint session of Congress on Wednesday. After spending most of the speech deriding his opposition, Obama finally got to the subject of tort reform which the White Nouse had promised Obama would pursue to get Republicans on board.

(Excerpt) Read more at hotair.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; US: Montana
KEYWORDS: 111th; baucus; bhohealthcare; healthcare; malpractice; maxbaucus; obamacare; tonsils; tortreform

1 posted on 09/13/2009 5:39:48 PM PDT by raptor22
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To: raptor22

ya it was pretty easy to see who would gain


2 posted on 09/13/2009 5:44:51 PM PDT by dalebert
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To: raptor22
From the article:

During the House Ways & Means markup of a health bill, Texas Democrat Lloyd Doggett ($1.5 million from lawyers) introduced language to allow freelance lawyers to sue any outfit (say, McDonald’s) that might contribute to Medicare costs.

3 posted on 09/13/2009 5:45:50 PM PDT by BenLurkin
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To: BenLurkin

With the Baraqqi plan, US law schools will surge in enrollment and med schools will dwindle.


4 posted on 09/13/2009 5:48:31 PM PDT by nascarnation
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To: nascarnation

And the last remaining specialist will be working on Indian Reservations, or aboard Medical Cruise Liners 200 NM’s of shore.....


5 posted on 09/13/2009 5:50:17 PM PDT by taildragger (Palin/Mulally 2012)
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To: BenLurkin
"First, kill all the lawyers" - William Shakespear


Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

6 posted on 09/13/2009 5:52:54 PM PDT by The Comedian (Evil can only succeed if good men don't point at it and laugh.)
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To: raptor22

With most medical malpractice going “un-sued” or un-claimed, this could be a good idea.

For anybody interested in the truth, here is a good link:

http://insurance-reform.org/TrueRiskF.pdf.

parsy, who says we could cut costs a bunch more going after greedy doctors


7 posted on 09/13/2009 5:53:25 PM PDT by parsifal (Abatis: Rubbish in front of a fort, to prevent the rubbish outside from molesting the rubbish inside)
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To: nascarnation

“With the Baraqqi plan, US law schools will surge in enrollment and med schools will dwindle.”

Well, to your point, my son, a 2009 graduate of RPI with degrees in Electrical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering (and a licensed paramedic in NY State) elected to go to law school rather than pursue an MD.


8 posted on 09/13/2009 5:55:17 PM PDT by FMBass ("Now that I'm sober I watch a lot of news"- Garofalo from Coulter's "Treason")
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To: FMBass

A terrible waste of talent but a wise choice in our current liberal climate.


9 posted on 09/13/2009 5:56:38 PM PDT by nascarnation
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To: raptor22
I know that the Bush administration considered authorizing demonstration projects in individual states to test these issues. It’s a good idea, and I am directing my Secretary of Health and Human Services to move forward on this initiative today.

If your socialist care is such a good "revenue neutral" idea, then practice it on one of your socialist satellite states...say Kollyfornia...and see how much faster they go bankrupt, Barry.

10 posted on 09/13/2009 6:08:50 PM PDT by PGalt
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To: raptor22

zero-sum society bump for later........


11 posted on 09/13/2009 6:26:35 PM PDT by indthkr
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To: dalebert
KILL THE BILL - then...

TORT REFORM ONLY

TORT REFORM FIRST

TORT REFORM NOW

There is ONE thing Congress can do to REALLY HELP lower medical expenses for ALL Americans by well over $100 BILLION PER YEAR, according to this audit by Price Waterhouse.

This AUDIT by the best firm I know of says that DIRECT costs of litigation and defensive medicine is 10% of health care. In addition, there is another breakdown chart that says 20% of cost is "poor quality care", part of which I believe can also be due to doctors just trying to cover their butt. That works out to about $200B$/yr... We could SAVE that much per year by reform the tort system instead of spending the additional 100B$/yr more!

TORT REFORM FIRST! TORT REFORM NOW!

Chill out a year and see what that begins to accomplish in lowering costs.

Tort reform can and should be done first, NOW and separately. There is no complex entwining and threaded set of current legislation that has to be taken into account. It can and SHOULD be done in a SEPARATE, PRISTINE manner that ALL of us can read, even the Congressmen voting on it! (Imagine that!)


12 posted on 09/13/2009 6:57:54 PM PDT by AFPhys ((Praying for our troops, our citizens, that the Bible and Freedom become basis of the US law again))
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To: AFPhys

hope everyone will hound there congressmen about it.


13 posted on 09/13/2009 7:22:10 PM PDT by dalebert
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To: parsifal

This document was prepared by leftist groups in favor of government run health care. It was also funded in part by the trial lawyers.

Our tort system is out of control. The rest of the world does not provide a jackpot justice system. Republicans passed some reforms related to class action lawsuits. The SC stopped some outlandish punitive damage practices. The rats want to undo some of these reforms.

These reforms not withstanding, many still believe that our tort system is jackpot justice. Why would medical litigation be any different than litigation against manufacturers? The answer is that the medical situation is no different.

If you are interested in the impact of medical malpractice on physicians, you should focus on physicians not the total health care expenditures. Most physicians indicate that medical malpractice premiums are a large expense. For example in Colorado, a state with strong limits on non economic damages, a surgical orthopedist pays $50,000 in premiums even if he has never been sued. In other states without limits, the rates are considerably higher. These rates and the threat of jackpot justice hang heavy over every physician.

The issue of medical malpractice obscures the larger issue of medical tort reform. Physicians are only one part of the picture. Hospitals, drug companies, medical equipment manufacturers, and other providers bear an even heavier burden than physicians.

Do not fall in the rat trap. Tort reform will bring a balance between greater societal needs and victim needs.


14 posted on 09/13/2009 7:36:08 PM PDT by businessprofessor
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To: businessprofessor

There was actually a book/report called Jackpot Justice which has pretty much been ripped to shreds. Much info in it was pure crap. I read the whole thing. It is rubbish.

Our tort system is not out of control. Jackpot Justice compared costs in the US to other countries without bothering to mention that the comparison countries has national health care , so that medical costs were not part of the judgment and costs.

Tort reform does sometimes lower medmal premiums, but not always. Health care costs do not decrease. And to make matters worse, the largest part of actual malpractice goes unreported and un-compensated.

You are being fooled by big business which is trying to escape responsibility for its mistakes.

parsy, who says responsibility should not be sluffed off that way


15 posted on 09/13/2009 7:51:47 PM PDT by parsifal (Abatis: Rubbish in front of a fort, to prevent the rubbish outside from molesting the rubbish inside)
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To: raptor22

How about the torts that are being perpetuated on us? The government is commiting rape. Conversion(theft). Mental anguish. Call the Tough Smart Lawyer. or The Hammer.


16 posted on 09/13/2009 7:57:44 PM PDT by shankbear (Al-Qaeda grew while Monica blew)
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To: parsifal

You should reveal your bias. Are you a trial lawyer? Your comments indicate that you are sympathetic the trial lawyers.

You did not address my assertions. I asserted that medical malpractice should focus on physician costs, not general medical costs. I also asserted that medical tort reform is much larger than medical malpractice for physicians. Medical equipment manufacturers, hospitals, and drug companies are all targets of medical lawsuits.

There is ample reason to be concerned about our tort system. A number of industries have been driven out due to litigation madness. The small aircraft industry was driven out. It returned a decade later when a Republican Congress provided sensible tort limits.

If our tort system is so great, why do other countries not copy it? Other countries laugh at our jackpot justice system.


17 posted on 09/13/2009 8:05:51 PM PDT by businessprofessor
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To: businessprofessor

I would not call it a bias. I simply learned the truth from my legal field career. You are right, hospitals have to carry coverage also.

I suspect other countries lack our constitutional guarantees of access to a court and a jury, and our history of law and customs. Plus, the more developed countries have larger social safety nets. Much of our costs in tort are past and future medical costs. Countries with national health care have passed these costs on to the taxpayer. We think the guilty ought to cover it.

parsy, who is sympathetic with trial lawyers and the victims they represent


18 posted on 09/13/2009 8:35:58 PM PDT by parsifal (Abatis: Rubbish in front of a fort, to prevent the rubbish outside from molesting the rubbish inside)
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To: Avid Coug

I think it’s time for a cat fight.


19 posted on 09/13/2009 8:42:56 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Unashamed Sarah-Bot.)
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