Parikh: Malpractice reform’s no cost-cutter
Filed under: Health care reform, Hospitals, Hot Health Headline
Rahul Parikh, M.D., writing on Salon.com, talks about his own tendencies toward defensive medicine and debunks the idea that malpractice suits are driving up costs and pushing doctors toward defensive medicine.
In particular, Parikh targets a Wall Street Journal opinion piece penned by three past AMA presidents. The trio attacks the public option and presses instead for malpractice reform.
Parikh responds:
Their refrain is familiar to anybody following the healthcare reform debate. The only problem is that it’s not true. There’s nothing “sure or quick” about changing medical liability laws that will improve healthcare or its costs. Defensive medicine adds very little to healthcare’s price tag, and rising malpractice premiums have had very little impact on access to care.
He then tackles, point by point, the most common arguments advanced by proponents of malpractice reform.
Calif. malpractice cap: Model or cautionary tale?
Filed under: Health care reform, Health policy, Hot Health Headline
The San Francisco Chronicle’s Victoria Colliver reports on how a discussion of a health reform-related push for medical malpractice reform can learn from California’s 34-year old law capping malpractice awards at $250,000.
First, the case against the cap: It’s too small (1975’s $250,000 is equal to about a million of today’s dollars) to make malpractice suits worth a lawyer’s while.
Critics object to the fact the $250,000 cap hasn’t been adjusted for inflation in 34 years . They also argue that because the law allows unlimited awards for economic losses, such as lost wages and ongoing medical costs, it discriminates against children and seniors, who have limited earnings if any, as well as against the families of those who died and did not have high medical costs.
“It’s economic suicide for a medical malpractice lawyer in the state of California to undertake too many or any cases that are capped at just 250,000,” said Erik Peterson, a San Francisco medical malpractice attorney who agreed to take on the Volkmuth’s case, even at a loss.
Cap proponents say the law helps keep costs down and to attract physicians to the state.
Supporters say the law has resulted in improved access to care for patients because it has persuaded doctors to stay in California without fear of skyrocketing insurance premiums.
Lisa Maas, executive director of Californians Allied for Patient Protection, pointed to her group’s research, which shows the average annual premium for a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology in Los Angeles was about $90,000 last year, compared to nearly $195,000 a year for the same specialist in Nassau and Suffolk counties of New York, a state without medical malpractice reforms.
Malpractice reform joins health system debate
Erica Werner of The Associated Press reports that Ezekiel Emanuel, a key adviser on health issues to President Obama and brother of White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, offered some hints recently about the role of malpractice lawsuit reform in the debate over changes to the country’s health care system.
Ezekiel Emanuel
At a meeting of the American Medical Association, Ezekiel Emanuel said:
“I’m not going to give you any details because I can’t. I just can tell you I’ve been thinking long and hard about that,” Emanuel, an oncologist and the brother of White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, told the doctors when asked about malpractice lawsuit reform. “It hasn’t gone unnoticed. So stay tuned.”
Mary Ann Geier, organizer of Health Camp Philadelphia, posted on Twitter that she wonders what the hidden agenda is and whether it might not be incompatible with true reform. She says it’s something the average person can’t figure out. Reporters, what can you tell us?
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., has proposed developing “alternate litigation models,” similar to proposals offered by Obama and Hillary Clinton.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., says malpractice reforms are key to overhauling the health care system.
“I think it’s an essential piece for there to be enduring reform, reform that will stick and will get a significant bipartisan vote in the United States Senate,” Wyden said.
Perhaps Wyden will expand on those comments when he speaks at Health Journalism 2009 on April 17.
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Health Journalism 2010, AHCJ's annual conference, features a world-class program with story ideas, sources, stronger reporting skills, chances to meet newsmakers and network with other journalists.
- Health and education: Covering these intersecting beats
- Reporting on the business of health care
- Health reporting resources for journalists on state and local government beats
- Shortened Lives: How location, lifestyle affect health
- Covering a complex story for the long haul
- Aging in the 21st Century: Presentations and tip sheets
- AHCJ calls for better information from Joint Commission Web site
