"Tort reform, in the form of limitations upon medical malpractice suits, could save INCOMPETENT DOCTORS AND THEIR INSURERS up to $54 billion over the next 10 years."

Fixed that for ya.

Wachtel and B of A should both rot in hell. Just 2 more groups of crooks looking to get rich off the taxpayers, plain and simple. Hopefully a prosecutor will aggressively pursue them.

3, I think you left your pitchfork over there in the corner.

In re tort reform:

I worked for medmal reinsurers. There's been a gradual, steady decline in jury awards. It's predictable and it's decreasing, and the industry knows that.

Each year, medmal premiums were nonetheless increased.

Then medmal insurers boasted to us every year about what a great business it is - their claims go down and their premiums go up every year. Profits increase every year.

Republican solution - lower claims further.

Yeah, I'm sure my former colleagues are currently running through calculations of how much they'll be "lowering" premiums.

I'm guessing premiums continue to increase (they'll certainly not go down - isnurers aren't that stupid), and a good chunck of the money gifted to the insurance companies by Republicans winds up in Republican coffers.

Every informed, rational analysis I've ever seen of the issue concludes that medical malpractice is a drop in the bucket. Anyone who proposes "fixing" health care by capping malpractice awards is a jackass.

@1 = comment of the day

5- Need I point out that it's Dems who are proposing the federal-level changes to med mal law these days? It's a "big gummit" thing, not a partisan thing.

B of A waiving priv? Ouch. Can't think of many scenarios where that is good for WLRK.

Thank you, moderator, for removing those posts. At least this site can still retain its dignity.

Original post 1 was the tits, I guess it fell into the grand canyon or something though.

Can someone restate in non-banworthy terms what original 1 said?

12

that would not be possible. It was an obscene homophobic rant.

@13=rOXY

"heirs of he Rev. Martin Luther King Jr."

Dammit, now Lat's making typos???

CNN: Tort reform will save $54 billion for the bourgeoisie tortfeasors and steal $54 billion from injured proletariat. Film at 11.

6:

I've heard the same thing. Something like, at worst, 5% of medical costs are malpractice insurance related and the real number is more like 1-3%. Have you seen any reports? I've been too lazy to look extensively.

I like how a major republic talking point is basically about cutting under 5% of the cost while everything else goes up 20% a year. Yeah, thanks for nothing...

17, one of the major Democratic talking points is that uninsured people end up using hospital emergency rooms anyway. But it turns out "uncompensated care" is only about 2.2% of medical costs. So what's the big deal about uninsured people costing the rest of us again?

16 - your disloyalty will see you to an ice pick through the melon.

- Ramon Mercader

12 - It implied that Elie did the substantial equivalent of drinking through a straw up Lat's nose. With Kash watching.

Let's just hope for some more good changes. I have a feeling that any minute now the president will use his magical powers and transform the word into a perfect liberal utopia with cute little bunny rabbits and magical elves and eskimoes

" This week Judge Vaughn Walker (N.D. Cal.) will consider a motion to dismiss the gay marriage case brought by David Boies and Ted Olson."

Anyone else find this sentence ambiguous? Was the motion brought by Boies and Olson, or was the gay marriage case? I happen to know the answer, but you can't tell from this sentence.

No, tort reform would not save that much. People are so analytically inept.

Several states have capped jury awards for pain and suffering., but that has had no effect on medical malpractice insurance premiums, which continue to skyrocket.

The problem isn't that a high percentage of doctors are getting sued and losing lots of money... the problem is their fear of getting sued. This fear drives the cost of malpractice insurance. I would love to see some independent scrutiny of how insurers set their rates for medical malpractice. Ostensibly, those rates should have come down in states like FL and TX that capped non-economic damages. But not so. They kept going up.

Insurance reform doesn't sound nearly as cool as tort reform... but that's the issue.

18:

That's a valid point and if it is that low, its rather shocking. The next question is, what accounts for the other 93% of costs :o

But more importantly, the rallying cry for tort reform is almost a central issue of the republic insurance platform. Getting people out of emergency rooms, though important, is far from the central focus of the democratic platform.

Further, lowering lawsuits really doesnt accomplish much especially when you risk filtering out ones with merit. Even if keeping people out of the emergency room saves no money, it will at least save people time and could save lives by lowering waiting times (and increasing preventitive care). Its really not even logically to put the 2 items in the same category. But i'll give you your point, though it is a very weak one.

Bingo 23. It also has something to do with how insurers make money. Contrary to popular belief, it has to do with more than just ensuring premiums are greater than payouts + overhead. The equation looks more like profit = (premium revenue - (overhead + payouts)) + investment income. When investment income goes down, profit goes down. There's a quick and easy way to fix the numbers though (when overhead and payouts remain relatively constant). That's it . . . raise premiums. That, my friend, is exactly what's been going on for years.

Paul Weiss for the win

Paul, Weiss makes the world go 'round.