Malpractice
Wednesday, September 2 2009
NPR ran a useful story on malpractice this morning. Here’s a snippet from the Kaiser Health News text version:
Limiting lawsuits by itself won’t change a system that gives doctors a financial incentive to do more and more. But liability reform could still be useful, if it helps win doctors’ trust.
The point is that malpractice reform may be part of a quid pro quo, in which doctors endorse the Administration’s health care reform in exchange for movement on malpractice.
One of most helpful moment’s in last week’s town hall was the discussion of malpractice reform: a questioner asked why it wasn’t part of the current bill. Gov. Dean answered that the current bill already has enough enemies, so it was prudent not to add lawyers to the list. But – he said reform was essential, even though he affirmed that no reform can deny a person’s right to a jury trial. Rep. Moran also explained that any bill that dealt with legal reform also had to go through the Judiciary committees in the House and Senate, and those are among the most politicized, contentious committees in Congress – basically, any bill would die in those committees, and nothing would change.
And just as a reminder, I think Obama’s head is in the right place on this issue.
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