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Old 08-11-2009, 10:46 PM
 
12,436 posts, read 11,907,579 times
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I have posted the answer to this question more times than I care to mention, but people still believe the boogeyman behind health care costs is medical malpractice litigation (torts).

It is true that tort litigation does add costs. The amount 1.5%. Thats right only 1.5% That means 98.5% comes from somewhere else. The effect of tort reform on health care costs would be so insignificant that it would not even be noticeable.

Why is tort litigation being blamed for the cost of health care? Deflection. It does cut into doctors salaries, but doctor's salaries only amount to 3% of the total cost. The insurance companies, pharms, health care professionals have to blame someone else. It is easy to blame the lawyers. Perfect scapegoat.

Here is your cite.

Tort costs and the economy: Myths, exaggerations, and propaganda
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Old 08-11-2009, 10:49 PM
LML
 
Location: Wisconsin
7,100 posts, read 9,083,947 times
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In states where VERY aggressive tort reform laws have been enacted the health care insurance cost have not gone down by one single penny. In fact they have increased at the same rate as have the health insurance costs in states without the tort reform. Facts people, facts.
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Old 08-11-2009, 10:51 PM
 
Location: Southcentral Kansas
44,882 posts, read 33,145,533 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LML View Post
In states where VERY aggressive tort reform laws have been enacted the health care insurance cost have not gone down by one single penny. In fact they have increased at the same rate as have the health insurance costs in states without the tort reform. Facts people, facts.
Would $200,000 per year, per doctor in Florida be a fact?
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Old 08-11-2009, 11:08 PM
 
12,436 posts, read 11,907,579 times
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Originally Posted by roysoldboy View Post
Would $200,000 per year, per doctor in Florida be a fact?
I have seen that number before for some specialist in Florida. I can't say whether it is true or not true, but it is possible. Florida has one of the highest rates of any state in the country. What you have to remember though is that the states have the power and have used that power to limit torts and have done so. One example is Texas. They changed the tort laws to put a cap on awards and made it more difficult for people to bring the suits. End result. Medical malpractice premiums did go down; however, did the Doctors reduce their compensation because they paid less premiums...NO. Did the hospital reduce their prices because they paid less premiums...NO. In fact it had absolutely no effect on Health care costs in states that enacted so called tort reform...why, because any money saved was pocketed and not passed on and the amount of the costs is so insignificant relative to other costs that even if the savings had been passed on no one would even notice.

The fact is, on average, Medical malpractice insurance costs for a general practictioner averages 10 to 12K a year, it goes up if they are specialist, but of course specialist get paid significantly more. When you compare that to a salary of 250K - 900K a year in a doctor's salary . That is not too bad.
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