Malpractice Reform - Still Working!!

Last week, I received an interesting newsletter from the pro-Medical Malpractice Reform group 'Protect Patients Now.' Contained within it was additional proof that tort reform, in various forms, actually works. The States that the letter discussed were West Virginia, Nevada, and Texas; all three of which, in the last few years, have placed caps on the amount of damages one can receive via Malpractice and other lawsuits.

Here's a few of the money quotes from the various articles linked in the newsletter:

(Actual Newsletter here)

In West Virginia, the Charleston Area Medical Center C.E.O, Dr. Glenn Crotty Jr., reports that "the hospital has recruited around 30 doctors annually over the past few years, for a total of almost 100 new hires." Why does this matter? Because "[before] the Legislature passed a comprehensive bill limiting the amount of payouts in medical malpractice lawsuits, the hospital would have been lucky to recruit one new doctor each year, Crotty said. 'We were at almost zero before tort reform,' Crotty said about the hospital's recruiting efforts. 'And we had several doctors leaving'."

So, wait, you mean that placing limitations on these lawsuits actually increases the number of Physicians you have handy to help ailing patients??? Shocking!!

In Nevada: "Physicians' insurance premiums are down and more doctors are coming to Nevada since voters limited damages in medical malpractice cases."

Wait a minute; if there are more Doctors, paying cheaper insurance fees (lower operational costs), that means that Doctors will likely be charging cheaper rates for Health Care!!! But, I thought the Lawyers and their just lawsuits were the ones with the patients' best interests at heart?!?!?!

Likewise, Texas has seen a tremendous increase in its number of Doctors. Indeed, Texas' reform has worked so well that the State is getting new Doctors at a faster rate than it can license them; creating a backlog in some of the State's Bureaucracies. What a terrible problem to have! I mean, if you have all those Doctors, that means that they will all be competing, capitalist style. This means they will all be trying to distinguish themselves from their competitors by offering lower prices or higher quality services!! The horror!!

Unfortunately, the Newsletter is, in fact, concluded with some genuine bad news, which, unsurprisingly, comes straight out of America's Emergency Rooms; were, simply put, a lack of available specialists is causing patients to die.

Problems with Medical Care, needless to say, still abound; but, the good news is that if we actually have the cajoles to try serious reform - it works.