We need tort reform and I don’t really know what that means or how you get it. I think it has to do with the legal conditions of bringing a lawsuit. One of the items that drives up the cost of health care is malpractice insurance. One of the reasons the insurance is so high is that it is so easy to sue and so many cases are settled out of court to save legal fees.
I am in the dark here. You hear of doctors getting away with murder. You hear of ridiculous settlements. You wonder what juries are thinking about. People do need to be protected from genuine negligence but there has to be a bit of common sense involved. Remember the case where someone spilled hot coffee in their lap and won a big settlement because the cup didn’t tell them the coffee was hot. There needs to be some kind of limits put on people trying to get rich based on a warped judicial system and crazy juries.
We need to expand the protection of the Good Samaritan concept. In my life there have been numerous times that doctors have treated my family at no cost or greatly reduced cost. I believe that if doctors didn’t need to fear being sued by goldbricks they would be more willing to help. Perhaps some provision could be made for free clinics being exempt from lawsuits. All doctors are not greedy treasure hunters. Many are humanitarians who would be glad to help out if it would not drive them to bankruptcy.
We need to explore the options.
homo unius libri
Juries too often have the attitude "Give it to them; it's only the insurance company that has to pay." That is the total depth of many people's thinking.
ReplyDeleteIt is similar to the idea that you can tax the rich. What they do is pass it on to the not rich in higher fees and prices.
DeleteGrace and peace