Medical Crisis in PA.

County Press (Second Thoughts) ^ | 2/11/04 | William W. Lawrence

[Tribune7]

Maybe I am stupid, but don't voters ever learn who is their most rabid enemy - the Democrats and Liberals, and ever vote for conservatives to replace them?

There are a lot of stupid voters in Pa. There are also a lot of old union Dems who may be socially conservative but won't vote Republican no matter what.

There are people upstate who think Rendell is a conservative.

[Our man in washington]

I have a friend who is about to deliver a baby. She lives in Philadelphia. The only Ob/Gyn she could find lives an hour's drive away.

She is thus adding extra risk to her life both in terms of driving and having reduced ccess to care. If we assume that many women in Pennsylvania are in the same situation, we can statistically expect a few extra deaths this year due to traffic accidents and medical problems related to delay in receiving care.

I pointed this out to a leftist friend who defends jury's rights to give whatever amount they want to give. He immediately ended the conversation.

Leftist policies kill. Creative conservatives need to think of ways to dramatize that fact.

[Mamzelle]

No court action would follow. It is not actionable, yet, for a doc to just quit. AAMOF--if you cannot score mal insurance, some states will demand that you do exactly that, though I don't know about Penn. Generally, hospitals require coverage as a condition for granting hospital privileges.

In Florida, some hospitals are allowing their docs to "go bare" because the alternative is to run hospitals without docs. This puts a horrible burden on hospitals. Everyone looks at hospitalization bills and calls them "doctor bills"--the main drive to your increase in health cost is not the cost of the doc, it's the cost of the infrastructure of the hospitalization--that vast plant of equipment, technicians, maintenance, and administration. If I could get insurance where I paid my doc out of pocket and had my hospitalization "free"--I'd be a very, very happy patient.

Penn is an interesting place because traditional crime thuggery has long joined forced with the trial bar--only mass resignations could change this. The citizens love their bandits more than their docs and hospitals.

[Polybius]

Yeah, and then more court action would follow.

No court action would follow. It is not actionable, yet, for a doc to just quit.

Unless the doctors are old enough and have enough money saved up to retire, the doctors don't "just quit".

They simply find a state where trial lawyers are not out of control, they say good-bye to their neighbors and colleagues, they call up Mayflower Transit and they move out of Pennsylvania, never to return.

There's not a damn thing a Philadelphia lawyer can do about that.

[Mama Shawna]

Hand up!

[JohnBovenmyer]

You excerpted out one other interesting bit:

This just in! Last week we revealed that Howard Dean stiffed the Brown Bag Deli in West Des Moines, Iowa for $963. The good news is that Dean has now paid the bill. The appreciative deli owner has named a bologna and cheese sandwich after the "I Had A Scream" candidate.

[nmh]

Incompetent doctors only fuel the tort situation.

[Temple Owl]

Sorry about that. Glad you found it though.

[Temple Owl]

Maybe I am stupid, but don't voters ever learn who is their most rabid enemy - the Democrats and Liberals, and ever vote for conservatives to replace them? Pennsylvania voted for Gore, didn't they? That must make people like yourself who are in the know almost crazy.

If I had the answer, I*'m sure i'd be rich. But it's not just in Pennsylvania. Look what Massachusetts keeps sending back to Washington.

We need term limits.

[Domestic Church]

PA is the birthplace of the NEA and is union turf. Corruption should be the state motto.