Tort Reform

The buzz word heard most often from the right, but is tort reform really going to solve the high cost of treatment?

The short answer is no. Should the Congress pass such legislation, do you really think that the doctors would be willing to pass on the savings on to their patients? Do you believe that tort reform would improve the quality of your medical treatment? Let’s examine both sides of the argument.

The threat of a medical malpractice lawsuit increases the cost of a doctor’s malpractice insurance. That cost is indeed a large burden placed upon doctors. They purchase the malpractice insurance for protection against lawsuits – but why wouldn’t they? A single lawsuit could potentially bankrupt a doctor. The cost of malpractice insurance is then passed to the patient or his insurance provider. And, even with the advent of tort legislation, the end cost to the patient is unlikely to change.

Assume that tort reform is passed and the cost of malpractice insurance decreases. The savings per patient is not very much. If a doctor has just 2500 patients (a conservative number) the savings per year per patient would only be $80.00. That is, provided his malpractice insurance costs him $200,000/year.

Well, what about all of those unnecessary tests that we hear so much about? Frankly, a lot of good comes from those tests. Those so called ‘expensive unnecessary tests’ are like getting a second opinion about a patient’s condition and ultimately benefit the patient. Patients get the benefit of possibly detecting other health problems because of those tests.

A doctor’s habit of relying on those tests for his diagnosis would probably not change a lot, nor would a patient want them to. So adopting tort legislation could potentially harm the quality of the health care we receive and produce little savings, if any to the patient.

Personally, I am highly offended by the greed of lawyers. But everything has to be weighed on the balance of good vs. bad. The threat of lawsuits by harmed individuals actually keeps doctors from making so many mistakes and that is good for all patients. The tests that the doctors order also keeps large numbers of people employed as well as improving a patient’s chance of having fewer complications due to misdiagnosis.

To be honest, I don’t savor the idea of having to keep the threat of lawsuits over the doctors, but try and imagine a world without any control over the quality of your health care. That is precisely what the threat of lawsuits brings to the table.

Just my thoughts on the subject,

Cheers,

-Robert-

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