Trial Lawyers: The Elephant In The Room On Health Care Reform
July 24, 2009
Charles Krauthammer analyzes the faltering effort to pass a trillion dollar health care bill and finally calls attention to the elephant in the room - namely the role trial lawyers have played in driving up health care costs for the rest of us:
” … why is it … that in this grand health-care debate we hear not a word about one of the worst sources of waste in American medicine: the insane cost and arbitrary rewards of our malpractice system?
“When a neurosurgeon pays $200,000 a year for malpractice insurance before he even turns on the light in his office or hires his first nurse, who do you pays? Patients, in higher doctor fees to cover the insurance.
“And with jackpot justice that awards one claimant zillions while others get nothing - and one-third of everything goes to the lawyers - where do you think that money comes from? The insurance companies, which then pass it on to you in higher premiums.
“But the greatest waste is the hidden costs of defensive medicine: tests and procedures that doctors order for no good reason other than to protect themselves from lawsuits.
“Tort reform would yield tens of billions in savings. Yet you cannot find it in the Democratic bills. And Obama breathed not a word about it in the full hour of his health-care news conference. Why? No mystery. The Democrats are parasitically dependent on huge donations from trial lawyers.”