Tort reform: Another number
Jan. 2nd, 2004 02:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
womzillaOne of the many policies pursued by the forces which occupy the US government is medical malpractice tort reform. They have argued that high medical malpractice payments are driving up the cost of medical care to the point where people cannot afford health insurance.
They are, for the most part, lying. Dwight Meredith has written a couple of very good short articles about the numbers involved; I particularly recommend the second one ("Scare Tactics Part II") because of what it says about the amount of darkness being shed on the issue:
They are, for the most part, lying. Dwight Meredith has written a couple of very good short articles about the numbers involved; I particularly recommend the second one ("Scare Tactics Part II") because of what it says about the amount of darkness being shed on the issue:
Please note that in constant 2002 dollars, the total payments from both judgments and settlements in med mal cases for the entire twelve year period from 1990 through 2002 was about $44 billion or about one-half of what Jane thought was plausible for a single year.
Jane Galt is very smart, has a very good education, reads a lot and is well informed. How can it be that she was off by a factor of 16 or 20 on such a basic point as the total payouts for medical malpractice cases?
