Tort Reform: Help needed.

me

[atomicpossum]

Don't you see it--you are part of the problem. You admit that the moles were a minor problem, easily handled in your doctor's office when you were either: (a) in a family without insurance or (b)in a family which took things like minor medical problems in stride as part of living and paid for the procedure themselves.

Actually, I agree with you. This was a situation which we found ourselves in at the time and I wound up being astonished as we saw the situation growing into more extravagant ridiculousness.

And, it bears pointing out, I have in recent years found it increasingly difficult to find 'fee-for-service' medical care. Usually, a new office's first question is not for my name or what the problem is, it's "Can I have your insurance card, please?"

[gortklattu]

Your friend is shifting the argument to an area that ignores the real problem: the costs we all pay for the frivilous suits and extrodinary amounts that are solely the results of the Trial Lawyers.

Profit is allowable in the US. The Insurance Companies make their money by providing a service for an agreed-upon fee. The lawyers have no set fee and OFTEN sue for things that are not against the law and are not wrong.

The trial lawyers can make loads of money when they do not win a suit just by harrassment and the economic reality of a company's settling out of court. Add to that the costs that all of us must pay because those in the medical profession are practicing preventative medicine...lawsuit wise, not health care wise. They do things solely to protect them from suits, not because medical care calls for some procedure.

Your friend is avoiding the problem that the trial lawyers are causing to the medical profession. A friend of mine has quit her practice because her small town could not support her medical malpractice insurance needs along with all the other stuff. There is NO DOUBT that the high costs of insurance figure in with this, and there's no doubt that the legal profession is the principle reason.

Find more info at the American Medical Association's site.

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/7861.html