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Tort reform refers to proposed changes in the civil justice system that would reduce tort litigation or damages. Tort is a system for compensating wrongs and harm done by one party to another's person, property or other protected interests (e.g. reputation, under libel and slander laws). Tort reform advocates focus on personal injury in particular. Accident compensation procedures, compensation, and reform proposals vary greatly among jurisdictions, with a general upwards trend in compensation.[1]
Overall, malpractice insurance and claims account for, at most, 2% of US health care spending, according to the US General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress.
According to the USA Today article, the cuprit of soaring malpractice premiums is the downturn in the stock market which reduced insurance company reserves and investment income. To illustrate this point, the USA Today article cites the experience of The St. Paul Companies, one of the nation's largest writers of medical malpractice insurance, who stopped writing such insurance because of investment losses, including $70 million in Enron alone.
The question I have is if malpractice lawsuits as serious as some people claim. IMO, insurance companies make it out to be a huge problem to justify the high premiums they charge doctors.
Overall, malpractice insurance and claims account for, at most, 2% of US health care spending, according to the US General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress.
Hey marcus, how about states where malpractice insurance costs are too high for doctors to be an OBGYN… at least Texas has passed tort reform, allowing those costs to be more reasonable… phreshone on April 18, 2009 at 12:37 PM
Friends in Florida or New York practicing *gasp* when I tell them what my yearly malpractice premium is. Also why if you are pregnant in Las Vegas you’re more likely to find a cabbie willing to deliver your baby. Marcus on April 18, 2009 at 12:40 PM
Marcus… doesn’t Pennsylvania have the worst problem with the cost of OBGYN premiums, and a total lack of doctors willing to deliver… Texas tort reform was only recently passed, I should have known that it will probably take several years for the insurance companies to see a level of savings to pass along as a reduction in premiums… My belief for a long time is that the biggest problem with medical delivery is the lawyers… do premiums essential double or triple the cost of your personal time to make a rational cash return on you efforts?? phreshone on April 18, 2009 at 12:51 PM
....Ever wonder why your Gyn doc is now offering Botox and specialty care “spa” services in his/her office? It’s because the reimbursement for care has gotten so abysmally bad that just practicing medicine, including surgery, is not profitable anymore. I know two Ob/Gyn docs who have closed practice and are now hospitalists in L&D because they now make approx 30% more as hospital employees than they could in private practice.
The ridiculously low reimbursement for Medicaid pts. is just part of the reason they have trouble findings docs who accept it. These patients have a larger percentage of high-risk pregnancies with drug-use, PIH, long histories of STDs/PID, gestational diabetes, poor nutrition, etc. What incentive does an MD have to take even less money than usual to treat a pt that requires more intensive care with a possibly poor outcome that may lead to a lawsuit? ...
My premium per year is 23,000 post reform. [texas tort reform]
In Pennsylvania I’g guess they are charged over 100,000.
;-P Marcus on April 18, 2009 at 12:55 PM
I thought a couple of years ago, the premiums were closer to 200k in penn… phreshone on April 18, 2009 at 12:57 PM
We have only begun to see the exodus of doctors from Medicare. The feds have instituted a program called RAC, or Recovery Audit Contractor. These are basically bounty hunters paid a percentage to come in a recover what they feel are overpayments to providers. In the pilot program in Florida, providers were hit with hundreds of thousands of dollars in presumed overpayments. There is little option for appeal. Those hit with a windfall bill will never again see another Medicare patient. There will be an army of Dr. John Galts in the near future.
I just love the theoretical world of the left. They honestly believe hard working people are just going to suck up and accept their fate as servants of the federal government. Boy are they in for a surprise. BardMan on April 18, 2009 at 1:17 PM