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Politics : A US National Health Care System? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: skinowski who wrote (8531)	8/21/2009 11:57:47 AM
From: John Koligman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42652

Message 25879439 Regards, John <ggg>

To: skinowski who wrote (8531)	8/21/2009 1:56:02 PM
From: Joe Sixer	3 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42652

The total cost of healthcare in the US is about $2T (rounded figure). * The total cash cost by insurance companies (payout each year by medical liability insurance companies) has been less than 1% per year for the last 18 years. Therefore, the total cash payout per year by medical liablity insurance companies is maybe $20B (1% of $2T). * Texas Gov. Rick Perry noted that, after his state enacted tort reform measures, the number of doctors applying to practice medicine in Texas "skyrocketed by 57 percent" and that the tort reforms "brought critical specialties to underserved areas." These are real reforms that actually improve access to health care. [5] * How far did medical liability insurance rates drop in Texas? Rates didn't drop in Texas--they went up. But the insurance companies no longer face massive payouts--so there are huge savings being realized !!! Where are the savings? They aren't in your pocket..... * So, here is what the #2 Texas medical liability insurer wrote in their request for higher medical liability insurance rates for doctors in Texas (from WSJ): * Texas enacted medical malpractice caps in 2003, and despite the caps the state’s second largest insurer has requested a 19% rate increase. Medical Protective, a leading insurer, claims on its website that caps are “critical,” but then admits in its filing that caps do not lead to any significant savings. In the filing requesting a rate increase Medical Protective stated, “‘Noneconomic damages are a small percentage of total losses paid. Capping noneconomic damages will show loss savings of 1.0%.’…And yet a white paper dated March 2004 and posted on the Medical Protective website states that capping noneconmic damages is a ‘critical element [of tort reform] because in recent years we have seen noneconmic damages spiraling out of control.’” (The Wall Street Journal, 10/28/04 , A6, “Malpractice Insurer Sees Little Savings in Award Caps”)