[Bitwhacker]

Did I miss it or did Friedman break out the costs paid for malpractice insurance and litigation/settlement expense???

I like the idea of MSA's to combat the HMO-mentality that has overtaken US healthcare. But....

What other countries in the world have the insanely high incidense of medical litigation as the US does??? (I know the UK doesn't -- because you pay if you lose.)

What fraction of the costs go to 'defensive' medicine (as in defend against exposure to litigation)?

What economic 'factor' accounts for the dropout rate or migration away from high-litigation states (like PA, where OB/GYNs and others are fleeing at the speed of sound)???

I think Friedman is only looking at half the problem...

[The Raven]

>>What fraction of the costs go to 'defensive' medicine

That is a high cost. But the litigation costs and settlement costs also increase internal quality costs to prevent reoccurance - and hopefully bring those costs down.

Probably pales in comparison to the price controls of Medicare & Medicade. Those are losers for the health care community and they recoup losses by raising prices on the rest of us.

[AFPhys]

I agree with you that Friedman DID ignore half of the problem of huge increases, but I suspect that he relies on the consumer to rethink the cost of defensive medicine if they were paying the bills themselves, and that doctors would be able to demand from the patient a release if they weren't willing to undergo such a procedure after being properly advised.