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Archives
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House leaders unveil health bill Wall Street Journal, NY - Oct 30, 2009 ...The bill also addresses medical liability, calling for new incentive payments to states that have alternative medical liability laws aimed at cracking down on frivolous malpractice lawsuits... Health bill would aid Jerseyans Courier-Post, Cherry Hill, NJ - Oct 30, 2009 ...Lance said he wants to amend the bill by adding limits on medical malpractice awards in legal disputes and eliminating the medical device tax, which he said would disproportionately affect a state that serves as the world's "medicine chest."... Survey: Health care reform is confusing WBAY-TV, Green Bay, WI - Oct 30, 2009 ...Fifty-nine percent favor limiting medical malpractice settlements. Fifty-seven percent like the idea of requiring everyone to carry health insurance... Malpractice confidentiality clauses could put others at risk WISN-TV, Milwaukee, WI - Oct 30, 2009 ...Confidentiality clauses are the norm when malpractice lawsuits are settled. But some say keeping details of those cases secret puts patients at risk... American Physicians profit off 12 percent Lansing State Journal, Lansing, MI - Oct 30, 2009 American Physicians Capital Inc.'s profits fell 12.5 percent in the third quarter. The East Lansing-based medical liability insurer reported on Thursday it earned $9.8 million, or 91 cents per share in the quarter that ended in September... H.R. 3962 - The House health bill - weighs in at 1,990 pages National Underwriter Life & Health - Oct 29, 2009 ...Health insurers and medical malpractice insurers have been trying to ward efforts to end their access to the McCarran-Ferguson Act insurance antitrust exemption. In H.R. 3962, an exemption repeal provision starts on page 150... Medical malpractice news
Opinion - Stanley Goldfarb: The malpractice problem CBS News (Weekly Standard) - Oct 29, 2009 ...There is much that can be done to make our system more efficient. Tort reform is a great place to start... Opinion - Art Veneris: Start with a clean sheet of paper The Brownwood Bulletin, Brownwood, TX - Oct 29, 2009 ...The GOP is in favor of tort reform, allowing for lower monetary penalties following a malpractice case. Is this a good idea? Heck, yes!... Medical malpractice news
The influence game: Doctors' lobby in tricky spot The Associated Press - Oct 28, 2009 ...In the process, though, some doctors say the group has been willing to sacrifice what many of them consider crucial priorities: placing new restrictions on medical malpractice lawsuits and fighting any proposal that hands the government more control over how doctors practice and earn money.... Opinion - Charles M. Arlinghaus: Time has run out on the budget Union Leader, Manchester, NH - Oct 28, 2009 ...The state is counting on taking $110 million from the malpractice fund known as the Joint Underwriting Agreement (JUA). Some of the money is for last year and some for the current budget, but all of it would have to be replaced... Summit aims at spending Concord Monitor, NH - Oct 28, 2009 ...Arlinghaus estimated that the budget will be $208 million short in 2010-11 if the state Supreme Court rules against the state in a $110 million case regarding a medical malpractice fund... Opinion - Bob Buckley: Health insurance companies exempt from anti-trust laws The Examiner, Independence, MO - Oct 28, 2009 ...Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont has introduced legislation about three weeks ago called the Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act, which removes the exemption or immunity health insurers enjoy. The law would also apply to medical malpractice insurers. Hurrah!... Medical malpractice news
Republicans impatient with leaders, awaiting healthcare alternative The Hill, Washington, DC - Oct 27, 2009 ...Republicans are quick to note they support various healthcare reform initiatives, such as medical liability reform. But getting most, if not all, of the Republican Conference to sign onto a specific plan would be very challenging... Everett says more tough budget battles lie ahead Williamsport Sun-Gazette, PA - Oct 27, 2009 ...The $27.8 billion plan, which eventually passed, avoided broad-based tax increases, but ended up raiding the state Rainy Day fund, tobacco settlement funds and the state fund used for helping doctors with malpractice costs... Editorial: Tort reform is not the answer The Des Moines Register, IA - Oct 27, 2009 ...These Americans have a right to pursue their complaints in the U.S. court system. Doctors do not deserve special protections from Congress in the event of such complaints. Opinion - Dr. Gerry R. Williams Jr.: Direct access to specialty care must be part of health care reform The Patriot-News, Harrisburg, PA - Oct 27, 2009 ...Finally, we believe that medical liability reform is the surest method to bring immediate cost savings to the health care delivery system and is necessary at the state and national level... Medical malpractice news
Editorial: Democrats' insurance industry payback is an empty gesture St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO - Oct 26, 2009 ...Within the week, a House committee approved the Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2009, which would make health and medical malpractice insurers subject to federal laws that prohibit "price fixing, bid rigging" and other anti-competitive behavior... Opinion - Kevin Pho: Any malpractice reforms should put patients first USA Today - Oct 26, 2009 ...Many physicians advocate caps on malpractice awards, but this does little to ensure that patients are compensated fairly or expeditiously, nor will it improve safety... Opinion - Carson E. Beadle: Health care on the move, but not where it should be Naples Daily News, Naples, FL - Oct 25, 2009 ...There is no attempt to rein in medical liability through tort reform so that protective medicine will continue unabated, draining as much as 8 to 10 percent of total health costs for questionable diagnoses and therapies... Opinion - Cecily Hastings: Conservative feels left out of health reform debate The Sacramento Bee, CA - Oct 25, 2009 ...It also has been shown that lowering medical malpractice insurance rates reduces both the use and cost of medical services. And yet the bills currently before Congress don't include these reforms... Opinion - Brooks Jackson: New study finds limiting malpractice liability could cut health costs Nashua Telegraph, Hudson, NH - Oct 25, 2009 ...So while there is now clear evidence that limiting malpractice liability can save money, it’s not nearly as much as some proponents have claimed. And on the question of whether patients would suffer, the jury is still out. Opinion - Sally C. Pipes: Understanding all the facts about the uninsured Washington Examiner, DC - Oct 25, 2009 ...Finally, we must reform the medical malpractice system. According to PriceWaterhouseCoopers, doctors practice about $210-billion worth of defensive medicine each year because they are afraid of being sued... New malpractice idea in health care debate Kansas City Star, MO (Associated Press) - Oct 24, 2009 President Barack Obama’s willingness to consider alternatives to medical malpractice lawsuits is providing a boost for taking such cases out of the courtroom and letting experts, not juries, decide their merits... Opinion - Nick A. Frentz: In response: Lawsuit cap won't bring savings The Free Press, Mankato, MN - Oct 24, 2009 A recent Free Press editorial suggested that we take a closer look at the federal government imposing legal reforms like damage caps in medical malpractice cases (“Lawsuit Limits are Worth Looking At”, Oct. 15, 2009). Fair enough; here is one lawyer’s view... Medical malpractice news
Negotiators mull public option in health care bill The Associated Press - Oct 23, 2009 ...Varney also said that repeal of current exemptions covering the industry would "allow competition to have a greater role in reforming health and medical malpractice insurance markets than would otherwise be the case."... Democrats push to end insurers' antitrust exemption National Public Radio - Oct 23, 2009 ..."Repealing the McCarran-Ferguson Act would allow competition to have a greater role in reforming health and medical malpractice insurance markets than would otherwise be the case," she said. Varney's assertion was roundly rejected by University of Arkansas business professor Lawrence Powell, who testified on behalf of the medical malpractice insurance industry... Controversial tort reform looming Tulsa Business, OK - Oct 22, 2009 ...Changes deal with capping damages on medical malpractice suits, codifying summary judgment rules, and providing for determining the validity of class action suits... Medical malpractice news
Medical malpractice reform needed in healthcare bill, senator and doctors say CNSNews.com, Alexandria, VA - Oct 22, 2009 As Senate Democrats meet behind closed doors to produce a single health care bill, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is repeating his call for medical liability reform... Revenue shortfall may hurt Oklahoma's plans for tort reform The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City, OK - Oct 22, 2009 A continued revenue shortfall could affect whether the state can afford to create a fund to pay damages in physician negligence cases, a key component of the comprehensive lawsuit reform bill passed earlier this year... House limits antitrust break for insurers Courthouse News Service, Pasadena, CA - Oct 21, 2009 The House Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday 20-9 to limit the antitrust exemption health insurance companies currently enjoy... Senate Dems. push for end to med-mal insurers' antitrust exemption National Underwriter, Hoboken, NJ - Oct 21, 2009 ...Lawrence E. Smarr, president of the Physician Insurers Association of America, based in Rockville, Md., said the announcement of the move to terminate the antitrust exemption “is not a surprise. We expected this but are still going to try to get our line of [medical malpractice] business removed from the bill.”... Editorial: Health Care: Tort reform needed The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville, FL - Oct 21, 2009 ...But it isn't difficult to come up with a fair solution to the malpractice problem. Congress should look at the Texas experience... Medical malpractice news
Doctors offer 'second opinion' The Omaha World-Herald, NE - Oct 21, 2009 ...Another of the coalition’s principles is that the “surest and quickest way” to slow down rising health care costs is through “comprehensive medical malpractice reform.” Most experts seem to agree that at least some of the increase in health care costs is the result of doctors practicing defensive medicine, or ordering unnecessary tests to guard against possible lawsuits... Opinion - Newt Gingrich & Wayne Oliver: Civil justice reform still has a place Politico.com - Oct 21, 2009 ...On Oct. 9, the Congressional Budget Office pronounced that a tort reform, or civil justice reform, package would reduce the federal budget deficit by an estimated $54 billion over the next 10 years. At the Center for Health Transformation, we believe that is a low estimate and just a drop in the bucket in terms of savings if civil justice reforms were enacted... Opinion - Roy H. Thomas, MD: Extend Ohio's success with tort reform The Cincinnati Enquirer, OH - Oct 21, 2009 ...Tort reforms works. Between 2002 and 2005, the OSMA supported 20 medical liability reforms enacted by the Ohio General Assembly. These reforms have brought stability to a medical liability marketplace that had been in crisis, with rapidly rising premiums... Opinion - David Holden: Office visit: Real reform, real access The Journal Record, Oklahoma City, OK - Oct 21, 2009 ...Just last legislative session, Oklahoma Republicans and Democrats worked together to pass reform. The bill capped noneconomic damages, reformed class-action lawsuits and at the same time, allowed Oklahomans who have truly been wronged to have their day in court... New malpractice idea in health care debate The Associated Press - Oct 20, 2009 ...The Obama administration is keeping all its options open. A stronger medical malpractice initiative could help the health care bill get votes from moderates and conservatives. It could also alienate some liberals. The political balance is unclear... Opinion - Scott Harrington: Competition and health insurance Wall Street Journal, NY - Oct 20, 2009 ...Repealing the antitrust exemption would also not lower the cost of malpractice insurance, or prevent future malpractice insurance crises, such as those that occurred in the mid-1970s, mid-1980s, and earlier this decade. It would instead tend to reduce rate accuracy and undermine competition in already fragile malpractice markets... Opinion - John McClaughry: Health care and the free market Bennington Banner, Bennington, VT - Oct 20, 2009 ...In most states, many doctors -- especially obstetricians, anesthesiologists and neurosurgeons -- face staggering medical malpractice premiums. This results from courts and juries imposing extravagant pain and suffering awards... Medical malpractice news
Reid offers doctors a deal The Hill, Washington, DC - Oct 20, 2009 ...Reid also asked that doctors ease up on demands for medical malpractice reform during the upcoming healthcare debate. Democrats have traditionally resisted calls for tort reform, which trial attorneys — a reliable base group — staunchly oppose... Analysis: Courting doctors in health care battle The Associated Press - Oct 20, 2009 ..."We continue to press for significant medical liability reform because we know that is a very important contributor to unnecessary health care costs," Dr. J. James Rohack, president of the AMA, said in an interview in which he declined repeatedly to say whether the organization had been asked to back off... Republicans seek health bill change Reuters - Oct 19, 2009 ...Conservatives are seeking changes that would limit medical malpractice liability and do away with any requirement for consumers to buy a health insurance policy, said Sen. Charles Grassley... Baucus: Public option still on the table CBS News - Oct 19, 2009 ...Baucus said that Republicans and other Democrats will have opportunities to add other amendments on the Senate floor and that he expects someone to introduce an amendment regarding medical malpractice reform. Med-mal insurers plan a fight to keep antitrust exemption National Underwriter, Hoboken, NJ - Oct 19, 2009 Medical malpractice insurance trade groups said they are gearing up to fight a proposal to cancel the antitrust exemption they are now afforded under the McCarran-Ferguson Act. The Senate Democratic leader ship has said they will seek the change for medical practice insurers along with a repeal of the exemption for health insurers... Medical malpractice news
Pols focus on lawyer health New York Post, NY - Oct 19, 2009 ...There's a big reason why Democratic lawmakers in both Washington and Albany dodge malpractice issues like the plague -- they don't want to offend the deep-pocketed trial lawyers who fund their campaigns, medical-industry sources say... A political game of 'win the docs' The Washington Independent, DC - Oct 19, 2009 ...GOP leaders, meanwhile, want to amend the bill by attaching offsets as well as provisions addressing medical malpractice reform... CBO: Malpractice reform would save $11B Business First of Buffalo, NY - Oct 19, 2009 The Congressional Budget Office has concluded that medical liability reforms, such as capping awards for noneconomic damages, would reduce total national health care spending by 0.5 percent... Scaling back justice? CBS News - Oct 18, 2009 ...Today, says the medical profession, fear of lawsuits has pushed medical malpractice insurance through the roof, and forced doctors to practice what's called "defensive medicine," meaning more tests and higher costs. Howard wants malpractice cases decided not by a jury of laymen and women, but by special courts... For state, a $110 million question Concord Monitor, NH - Oct 18, 2009 ...Losing the money, which Gov. John Lynch and legislative leaders want to seize from a state-established medical malpractice fund, would create a big hole in the state's budget as revenues continue to slump... Editorial:Medical jeopardy Baltimore Sun, MD - Oct 18, 2009 ...if lawmakers can't stand behind existing limits on malpractice insurance costs, the public will be left footing much bigger medical bills - assuming they can find a doctor still in business to treat them. Medical malpractice debate draws crowd to Mt. Gretna Lebanon Daily News, Lebanon, PA - Oct 17, 2009 Although the issue of limiting jury awards for pain and suffering in medical-malpractice lawsuits is not currently a hot-button legislative topic, close to 100 people turned out Saturday in Mt. Gretna for a Citizens' Caucus-sponsored debate about it... Editorial: Texans know tort reform works Southeast Texas Record, Beaumont, TX - Oct 17, 2009 ...The medical malpractice tort reform that Congressional leadership is wrongly excluding from their ill-advised healthcare overhaul has already been tested. Congressional leaders should embrace the effectiveness of tort reform. It's been tried and it works... Medical malpractice news
Lawyer to state: Fund isn't yours Concord Monitor, NH - Oct 16, 2009 Lawyers for the state and for policyholders of the Joint Underwriting Association's medical malpractice fund argued before the state Supreme Court yesterday over who controls the $110 million sought by Gov. John Lynch and the Legislature to balance the state budget... Opinion - Donald H. Taylor Jr.: Sticking points for a final bill The News & Observer, Raleigh, NC - Oct 16, 2009 ...The most likely issue on which they could exact influence is medical malpractice reform. The president provided an opening in his September speech to Congress... Opinion - Patrick Durusau: Medical malpractice reform? The Covington News, GA - Oct 16, 2009 ...If we abolish medical malpractice as we know it, physicians (not the government) would have to develop better ways to discover why "mistakes" happen and ways to prevent them from happening again... Doctors begin TV ads pressing Congress on Medicare The Associated Press: Oct 15, 2009 ...Meanwhile, two people familiar with a meeting Wednesday among top Senate Democrats, administration officials and members of several doctors' organizations said Reid told physicians at the session to "back off" on another priority — curbing lawsuits for medical malpractice... Obama official questions need for insurance antitrust exemption Insurance Journal, CA - Oct 15, 2009 ...However, the Department of Justice official stopped short of backing repeal of the insurance exemption for medical malpractice and health insurers, a move that is under consideration in Washington... Medical malpractice news
Insurers' exemption is said to boost costs Philadelphia Inquirer, PA - Oct 15, 2009 ...Varney, head of the Justice Department's antitrust division, told the Senate Judiciary Committee that ending the exemption would "allow competition to have a greater role in reforming health and medical malpractice insurance markets." ... Dems vs. insurance industry, Round II The Washington Independent, DC - Oct 15, 2009 ...But a 1945 law, called the McCarran-Ferguson Act, carves out an exception for health and medical malpractice insurers, which instead are regulated by states... Drop health insurer antitrust exemption, top Dems. urge National Underwriter, Hoboken, NJ - Oct 14, 2009 ...The legislation in both chambers would repeal the antitrust exemption accorded health insurers and medical malpractice insurers through McCarran-Ferguson. It was recently introduced by Sen. Leahy and Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee... Editorial: Health bill: Now the real dealing begins The Gazette, Colorado Springs, CO - Oct 14, 2009 ...Tort reform, putting a lid on medical malpractice awards, would be one approach. Allowing people to buy insurance across state lines would be another... Opinion - Robert P. Charrow: Fighting defensive medicine Washington Post, DC - Oct 14, 2009 ...if Congress cannot wait for the results of these studies before legislating, I recommend that it require any insurer providing policies as a health-insurance co-op to offer health insurance with two premium levels: one with an ordinary premium, and a second parallel policy with a significantly lower premium. Those buying the lower premium policies would waive their right to tort litigation... Medical malpractice news
Opinion - Morton Kondracke: Reinventing the wheel on health care reform The Mercury, Pottstown, PA - Oct 14, 2009 ...On the other hand, doctors have their educations paid for, so they don't have student loan burdens, and medical malpractice insurance costs are low because claims are not taken to court... Opinion - Tom Wilemon: Numbers shift on malpractice costs Memphis Daily News, TN - Oct 14, 2009 ...The Congressional Budget Office has done an about face in estimating the impact of medical malpractice expenses on health care costs with a new report that says limits on lawsuit awards could save as much as $54 billion over the next 10 years... Opinion - James R. Copland: Here's what is stopping tort reform The Washington Examiner, DC - Oct 14, 2009 ...It's a myth to think that liability reform alone could cure the nation's health-care problems, but it is equally a myth to think it doesn't matter. Unfortunately, because of the trial lawyers' stranglehold on Congress, meaningful liability reform, this year, is simply wishful thinking. Medical malpractice litigation blamed for rising health care costs Madison/St. Clair Record, Edwardsville, IL - Oct 13, 2009 ...Medical malpractice litigation has driven up U.S. health care costs dramatically, translating into higher costs for consumers, a study said Tuesday. The report by the Manhattan Institute's Center for Legal Policy said the direct cost of medical malpractice litigation is roughly $30.4 billion annually... Editorial: Tort reform Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake City, UT - Oct 13, 2009 ...There's a reason why there are medical malpractice suits. People, including doctors, make mistakes. Still, one reason for malpractice reform is to reduce the number of unnecessary tests and procedures that doctors order to protect themselves in case of malpractice suits... Medical malpractice news
Experiments in tort reform New York Times, NY - Oct 13, 2009 ...In fact, states already have tried a number of approaches. Most have yielded mixed results. Here’s a quick overview of those attempts... Panelists: Health care reform? Yes. Rush it? Why? Patriot-News, Harrisburg, PA - Oct 13, 2009 ...Delozier also criticized Gov. Ed Rendell on medical malpractice reform. "Our current governor is against any kind of medical malpractice reform. ... It will depend on our next governor," Delozier said... Health care reform debate coming to a head Sun Gazette, Williamsport, PA - Oct 13, 2009 ...Redmond noted that medical liability reform has escaped much of the discussion, in part because of the powerful lobbying efforts of trial lawyers... Editorial: Tort retort Richmond Times-Dispatch, VA - Oct 13, 2009 ...But if it is not the seismic shift Republicans would have it be, neither is it so insignificant as the trial-lawyer lobby would suggest. Tort reform should remain a part of the discussion. Dem lawmaker says tort reform will be part of health bill The Hill, Washington, DC - Oct 12, 2009 ...Medical malpractice reform will likely be part of the final health bill to pass through Congress, one House Democrat said over the weekend... Opinion - Don Surber: $250,000 suddenly is an insult Charleston Daily Mail, WV - Oct 12, 2009 ...Medical malpractice reform worked in West Virginia. We were running out of emergency room doctors. The Charleston Gazette and the trial lawyers screamed for years that it was “unfair” to cap damages — until their hospital’s emergency room was downgraded to Level III care... Opinion - Candace Talmadge: Shoddy business practices cause malpractice insurers' woes The North Star National, Byron Center, MI - Oct 12, 2009 ...In short, do not believe a word the insurance industry says about a supposed medical malpractice crisis. Its members could cut their already low exposure risk in half, if they weren’t so busy collecting inflated premiums to notice... Medical malpractice news
If a health bill passes, benefits not immediate USA Today - Oct 12, 2009 ...Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch and other Republicans back changing malpractice laws as a tool to lower health care costs. The Congressional Budget Office last week estimated that changes to these laws, such as limiting the amount of money juries can award to patients for botched care, would reduce budget deficits by $54 billion over a decade. Certificate-of-merit law struck down by Washington Supreme Court American Medical News, Chicago, IL - Oct 12, 2009 ...The Washington Supreme Court dealt a setback to physicians by striking down a tort reform measure aimed at curbing meritless medical liability lawsuits. But doctors, in a separate ruling, won a reprieve when the high court rejected an attempt by trial lawyers to expand physician liability... Casey: $250K cap on malpractice damages 'insulting' CNN - Oct 11, 2009 A moderate Pennsylvania Democrat came out strongly Sunday against the possibility of imposing a cap on medical malpractice damages as part of comprehensive health care reform legislation currently under consideration in Congress... Physician tax proposal has some temperatures rising Crain's Detroit Business, MI - Oct 11, 2009 ...Fox said the Legislature also should approve Senate Bill 858, which provides additional limited medical malpractice liability protection for doctors treating emergency patients... Physician misconduct often tolerated, analysis finds Dallas Morning News, TX - Oct 11, 2009 Seven years ago, after a scathing series of stories in The Dallas Morning News, the Texas Medical Board promised to crack down on bad doctors... Editorial: Montana sets example on medical tort reform The Billings Gazette, MT - Oct 11, 2009 ...Montana is one of only a dozen or so states with some kind of medical litigation screening panel. The Montana panel provides a speedy, unbiased opinion to both the patient/family and to the care provider. The panel doesn't bar the filing of a lawsuit, but provides professional insight on the merits of a complaint... Opinion - Richard C. Dreyfuss: Big trouble awaiting the next Pa. governor The Philadelphia Inquirer, PA - Oct 11, 2009 ...Separately, the state's unfunded retiree medical liability stands at about $10 billion, against which the state is contributing only about $746 million. Since the annual assumed interest rate is 8.5 percent, the state is not even covering the annual interest cost of $850 million on this growing debt... Opinion - Mark L. Thomsen: Dream on: Tort reform is a myth Green Bay Press-Gazette, WI - Oct 11, 2009 ...One of the biggest issues for many opponents of health-care reform is "medical malpractice reform." This is a red herring... Leaner government emerges from Pa. budget battle Press & Sun-Bulletin, Vestal, NY (Associated Press) - Oct 10, 2009 ..* Transfers $808 million from medical malpractice insurance coverage funds... Malpractice reform would save $54B: study New York Post, NY - Oct 10, 2009 ...Savings would be realized by reducing "defensive" medicine costs that doctors use to avoid litigation and through lower malpractice payments. That means doctors would order fewer unnecessary but costly lab tests... Report: Reining in lawsuits would cut deficit The Washington Times, DC - Oct 10, 2009 ...Previously, CBO focused its analysis on similar tort reform measures on malpractice insurance premiums. This was the first time CBO based its analysis on how tort reform would affect doctors' use of health care services, based on recent research. Opinion - William Busse: CBO confirms that tort reform will reduce health care costs Examiner.com - Oct 10, 2009 ...The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report on Friday which says that medical malpractice reform could reduce the cost of healthcare by 54 billion dollars over 10 years... Medical malpractice news
Could it be? Budget battle appears to be nearing end The Morning Call, Allentown, PA - Oct 9, 2009 ...Finally, the House on Thursday advanced a bill that taps the state's $755 million Rainy Day Fund and an account that provides subsidized medical malpractice insurance coverage for physicians to help balance the budget... Department of Health would get bump in funding from state budget proposal The Patriot-News, Harrisburg, PA - Oct 8, 2009 ..The budget uses $808 million originally set aside to help pay medical malpractice awards involving doctors and hospitals. The money has been used to help balance the budget... Florida says medical malpractice rates decline, market is competitive Insurance Journal, CA - Oct 8, 2009 ...The report shows a net decline in medical malpractice rates for the primary market, which includes physicians and surgeons. The net decrease of all approved rates in force in Florida was 10 percent for 2008... Report: Fla. medical malpractice rates fall in 2008 Tampa Bay Business Journal, FL - Oct 8, 2009 ...Legislation passed in 2003 to stem the rising tide of malpractice insurance premiums appears to be working... Health care issues: Medical malpractice lawsuits The Associated Press - Oct 8, 2009 ...Still, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated last year that savings achieved by limiting medical liability would amount to less than 0.5 percent of health care spending... Medical malpractice news
Medical malpractice funds headed for Pa. budget Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA - Oct 8, 2009 A statewide fund to cover large medical malpractice judgments -- built with yearly assessments imposed on hospitals, physicians and other health professionals -- is about to get $100 million poorer... Opinion - John L. Micek: The end is near (but maybe in a good way) Allentown Morning Call, PA - Oct 7, 2009 ...Rep. Scott Petri, R-Bucks, said he was opposing the budget because it "relies too much on two sources of one-time revenue" -- the surplus from a state account that provides subsidized medical malpractice insurance for physicians and the state's $755 million Rainy Day Fund savings account... Opinion - State Senators Deb Reynolds and Lou D'Allesandro: The malpractice fund and its use for filling a big hole in the state budget Foster's Daily Democrat, Dover, NH - Oct 8, 2009 ...As a result, we in the Senate fully supported the governor's proposal to draw from the JUA excess to help fund this two-year budget. The idea was carefully examined and we consulted with the state Attorney General's office and the state Insurance Department before reallocating the funds... Active-duty military may get malpractice rights Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PA - Oct 8, 2009 In a move to partially reverse a controversial 59-year-old U.S. Supreme Court ruling, the House Judiciary Committee has approved a bill to give active duty members of the military the right to file medical malpractice suits against the government... New York med mal insurer reducing buy-in for new policyholders Insurance Journal, CA - Oct 8, 2009 J. M. Woodworth RRG, Inc., a medical malpractice Risk Retention Group that insures physicians and surgeons in New York, is reducing the capital new policyholders are required to pay by 83 percent through the end of this year... Report: Fla. medical malpractice rates fall in 2008 South Florida Business Journal, Fort Lauderdale, FL - Oct 7, 2009 Legislation passed in 2003 to stem the rising tide of malpractice insurance premiums appears to be working... Opinion - Gary Blodgett: Tort reform is essential to reforming health care Globe Gazette, Mason City, IA - Oct 7, 2009 ...one of the most important factors implicated in high health care costs — defensive medicine — will likely not be meaningfully addressed in any health care legislation that will be enacted by our current Congress... Opinion - Christopher Vernon: Time for tort reform The Star-Ledger, Newark, NJ - Oct 7, 2009 ...There is an undeniable need to address the situation in America today and the debate merits attention. But reform of the current laws are a must. We can’t afford the status-quo. Medical malpractice news
Tort reform challenged over ER care The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, GA - Oct 6, 2009 ...The Legislature passed the tort reform law in 2005. With ER doctors facing an increased threat of malpractice suits, lawmakers sought to make sure Georgia could still attract the best physicians into the state’s emergency rooms, Wade Copeland, a lawyer representing a Muscogee County doctor, told the court... NH revenues trend down Manchester Democrat Examiner, Denver, CO - Oct 6, 2009 ...Another shoe yet to drop is the ultimate fate of the $110 million medical malpractice fund in the Joint Underwriting Agreement. The state used it to help balance its budget... Medical malpractice insurers' profits higher than nearly all Fortune 500 companies The Washington Independent, DC - Oct 6, 2009 ...AAJ’s report released today finds that the average profit of medical malpractice insurance companies is higher than 99 percent of all Fortune 500 companies and 35 times higher than the Fortune 500 average for the same time period... Medical malpractice news
Senators expected to approve budget plan Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PA - Oct 6, 2009 ...A potential land mine is the lawsuit filed in Commonwealth Court by the Pennsylvania Medical Society and a hospital group against the Department of Public Welfare and the Pennsylvania Office of Budget over two funds being used to balance the budget... Doctors join Obama to pitch health care overhaul The Boston Globe, MA - Oct 6, 2009 ...But Senator John Barrasso, Republican of Wyoming, an orthopedic surgeon for 25 years, said many doctors, nurses, and patients strongly oppose Obama’s proposals... Opinion - Andy Harris: Reform, not overreach Baltimore Sun, MD - Oct 6, 2009 ...Obstetricians and neurosurgeons in some states pay malpractice insurance premiums in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, costs that are passed on to the patient and insurers - and limit access to those physicians... Court of Appeals takes cap battle The Daily Record, Baltimore, MD - Oct 5, 2009 ...Next month, the court will examine a Montgomery County judge’s ruling that another cap, limiting medical malpractice damages, applies only to cases first submitted through the health care claims arbitration process... Medical malpractice insurance market stable but faces challenges ahead Insurance Journal, CA - Oct 5, 2009 ...Recent trends have had an overall stabilizing impact on the medical malpractice market, but several emerging issues may present challenges for insurers and actuaries... Medical malpractice news
Florida lawsuit takes swing at 3-strikes liability rule American Medical News, Chicago, IL - Oct 5, 2009 ...Florida voters borrowed the concept when they passed a constitutional amendment allowing doctors' licenses to be revoked if they had three medical liability judgments against them. The measure is believed to be the only one of its kind in the country... Opinion - Tom Eblen: Some key points in the health care debate Lexington Herald-Leader, KY - Oct 5, 2009 ...Republicans see tort reform as a panacea; Democrats dismiss it as insignificant. But the fact is many doctors feel compelled to order expensive tests and treatments of questionable value... Democrats push GOP on health plan Daily World, Opelousas, LA (Associated Press) - Oct 4, 2009 ...Republicans will offer numerous amendments, including efforts to limit medical malpractice suits, when a health-care bill reaches the Senate floor this month, he said... Doctors' malpractice insurance rates drop with fewer negligence claims Columbia Tribune, Columbia, MO - Oct 4, 2009 The state Department of Insurance recently issued a report indicating medical malpractice insurance companies are making money in Missouri... Opinion - Donald Palmisano and others: What we would have told Obama Wall Street Journal, New York, NY - Oct 4, 2009 ...Yet these lawsuits, even when dismissed or closed without payment, cost doctors time and money, and encourage defensive medicine. This adds billions to the cost of medical care. It also increases malpractice insurance premiums, the costs of which get passed on to patients... Opinion - Dr. Ogelsby Young: Defensive medicine takes a financial toll Concord Monitor, Concord, NH - Oct 4, 2009 ...those against medical-legal tort reform argue that it amounts to just over 1 percent of total U.S. health care spending. What they fail to recognize are the hidden costs of our medical-legal practice system - the indirect costs of defensive medicine... Opinion - Tom Vesper: Patients have the right to hold doctors accountable The Press of Atlantic City, NJ - Oct 4, 2009 ...Some believe granting special favors and sheltering insurance companies from paying for medical errors will "reduce errors" and cause doctors and nurses to report each other. That is not personal or professional responsibility... Opinion - Ruqaiijah Yearby: Reducing errors key to reform Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, NY - Oct 3, 2009 ...tort reform will not cut costs until medical errors are addressed, which will substantially reduce medical malpractice suits... Medical malpractice news
Dems taunt GOP: Where's your health care plan? The Associated Press - Oct 2, 2009 ...The first two items in this Republican plan would pursue long-standing conservative goals: limit medical malpractice suits filed by "overzealous trial lawyers" and devote more resources to stopping "waste, fraud and abuse" in Medicare and Medicaid... Editorial: Public options The Durango Herald, Durango, CO - Oct 2, 2009 ...Health-care reform is a big-enough issue to include both tort reform and a public option. Both could be done on a limited basis. They could be closely monitored, controlled and time-limited... Dems question GOP doctors' opposition to health reform The Hill, Washington, DC - Oct 1, 2009 ...Johnson pinned those Republican physicians' opposition to the plans in Congress on a supply-sided economic philosophy, and accused them of being too beholden to insurance interests. She also suggested that the media should investigate the history of those Republican health professionals' medical malpractice backgrounds... State's cash crunch isn't as bad as feared Union Leader, Manchester, NH - Oct 1, 2009 ...The 2009 results give the state a cash cushion if it loses its appeal at New Hampshire Supreme Court this month of a lower court ruling that denied it access to $110 million in medical malpractice insurance reserve funds... HHS will fund $25 million in tort reform projects American Medical News, Chicago, IL - Oct 1, 2009 ...Grants for up to three years and $3 million each will be awarded on a competitive basis to states and health care systems to test models that improve health care quality and patient safety while decreasing medical liability pressures on doctors... Medical malpractice news
Opinion - Michael Hiltzik: Tort reform is the healthcare debate's frivolous sideshow Los Angeles Times, CA - Oct 1, 2009 ...It's fair to say that some reform is needed in our tort system. The trick is to make sure that the benefits of any changes go to the right people -- the patients. That hasn't been the result of the preferred remedy for malpractice lawsuits, which is to hit trial lawyers in the pocketbook... Opinion - Mark L. Thomsen: Malpractice 'reform' won't fix health care or save money The Cap Times, Madison, WI - Oct 1, 2009 ...Amazingly, insurance special interest groups with their call for more "tort reform," want to deprive Americans who just bailed them out of constitutionally protected access to our judicial system... Opinion - Rep. Lamar Smith: Trial bar v. tort reform Politico, Arlington, VA - Oct 1, 2009 ...But it is the unlimited damages for “pain and suffering” that allow trial lawyers to abuse the system. According to a study by the Harvard School of Public Health, 40 percent of medical malpractice suits filed in the U.S. are “without merit.” ... State budget would use medical liability funds The Philadelphia Bulletin, PA - Sep 30, 2009 ...But while some doctors support Mcare, other medical professionals and experts say the program merely passes on the costs of frivolous lawsuits from doctors to the entire taxpaying public and that such costs cannot disappear without serious tort reforms... Opinion - Lily Robertson: Health care reform: Fire the lawyers! Portsmouth Herald, Portsmouth, NH - Sep 30, 2009 ...Class action lawsuits shouldn't have a thing in the world to do with health care or medical malpractice insurance. Malpractice should be an entity in and of itself... |
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