Posted on 04/15/2015 5:17:11 PM PDT by concernedcitizen76
Obamacare (aka Obombacare) goes against the historical grain of America. Freedom of choice has long been an integral part of the American experience: In regard to an issue as personal and intimate as health care, especially so. Americans loathe the idea of the federal government and IRS commanding this important aspect of their lives and that of their children.
Americans know how incompetent the federal government is at running things that are best left to the private sector. Look no further than a few bureaucratic monstrosities like DHS TSA, IRS, DoA, EPA, DoEd, DoC et al. Compare the bankrupt and clunky post office to the swift and efficient private delivery services. The feds have run down Veteran Adminstration hospitals; Medicaid and Medicare are rife with systemic waste and fraud. Medicaid mills and fraudulently submitted bills for Medicaid and Medicare have bilked the taxpayers of countless billions of $$$ over the decades. Gallup polls show high levels of no confidence in the federal government year after year, and at least one in four Americans now favor separation.
If politicians were truly interested in making health care more affordable, they would pass tort reform and put caps on malpractice settlements and judgments. The trial lawyers associations pour millions into the Democratic Party machine which has blocked tort reform for many years. Lawyers get rich on huge unrestricted malpractice judgments and settlements that drive up the cost of health care astronomically.
Surgeons, for example, must pay hundreds of thousands of $$$ per year in malpractice insurance. Those gigantic malpractice premiums are of course passed on and become a structural part of health care costs. Lawyers have a major financial incentive to foster an adversarial relationship between the health care provider and patient thereby distorting medical care and hugely increasing its costs.
In response, health care providers must now practice "defensive medicine" and order many expensive tests that otherwise they would view as unnecessary. That increases the cost of treatment manyfold, for what would have been a simple inexpensive treatment some years ago. Medicine is now all about protecting itself from vulture lawyers and bankrupting court cases. Tort reform goes a long way to solve that problem and dramatically reduce medical costs. Another no brainer is making health insurance portable across state lines.
"We --the EXEMPT --- make money off of RomneyCARE/ObamaCARE.
If you question us, we will continue to have IRS take you out."
Practical ideas all offered by others at some time previously.
Don’t stand a chance in hell.
” Tort reform goes a long way to solve that problem and dramatically reduce medical costs. Another no brainer is making health insurance portable across state lines.”
100% correct.
When the leaders of both parties want Obamacare, we are screwed.
We are therefore screwed.
“” Tort reform goes a long way to solve that problem and dramatically reduce medical costs. Another no brainer is making health insurance portable across state lines.”
So I should just ignore the fact I went into the emergency room in great pain, it was diagnosed as gall stones, the hospital surgeon took out my healthy gall bladder, and then the correct diagnosis - pancreatitis was made? Oops is okay?
Where did I condone malpractice?
“Where did I condone malpractice?”
Many medical tort reform proposals effectively insulate doctors from legitimate malpractice claims.
Well, since you are one of the brightest FReepers around, I won’t attempt to impeach your statement. It seems that these days, anything worth doing is perverted by some incompetent SOB, or group. Thanks for the info.
It’s the subjective “pain and suffering” damages that attract the shysters like flies to carrion. The monetary damages awarded by juries are often way out of whack to reason and reality.
I know a surgeon who pays $300,000 per year for malpractice insurance. He must pass these costs along to stay in practice.
It’s a shame that doctors must of necessity view every patient these days as a potential plaintiff. Medicine has been ruined by government, lawyers, and the insurance industry.
The vast majority of malpractice cases take place in state courts. Most states have addressed tort reform. Are you suggesting Washington should override the will of the state legislatures on this issue?
The feds couldn't even run the web site, much less the entire health care system -a healthcare system that used to be the best in the world. And we don't have free choice about our health care anymore.
How great.
Re: “Most states have addressed tort reform.”
In theory, perhaps, but only a handful of states have been very successful.
“Reducing the burden of medical tort is critical to increasing Americans’ health ownership and reducing medical costs that curtail our access to care. Some progress is evident, but states aiming to improve their medical-tort laws still have a long way to go.”
So are you suggesting that the fix should come from Washington and not the state legislatures?
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