Opinions & Editorials: Retirees
Selling Out Doctors to Pay Off Trial Lawyers
Newt Gingrich and Wayne Oliver, Center for Health Transformation
09.07.09
(as printed at Politico.com) Civil justice reform, which is sometimes referred to as “tort reform,” is not addressed in any health reform bill now being considered by Congress. As a matter of fact, civil justice reform is rarely being discussed even though it should be a critical component of every discussion and in every legitimate health reform bill.
Physicians understand its importance. And so do the American people. Many are beginning to wonder why it’s not in any bill.
Howard Dean, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, at a town hall meeting in Virginia last week said, “Tort reform is not in the bill because the people who wrote it did not want to take on the trial lawyers. And, that is the plain and simple truth.”
The Plaintiffs vs. The Boards
Steve Hantler
08.30.09
The greatest risk is that just as businesses struggle to bring back jobs, our strength will be sapped by a new wave of lawsuits. The plaintiffs’ bar has spent tens of millions of dollars to win a majority of state houses across America. Now the plaintiffs’ bar is preparing to invest millions more in political campaigns, advertising, and lobbying to deepen their political influence and win dramatically expanded liability laws.
The Trial Lawyers’ Earmark: Using Medicare to Finance the Lifestyles of the Rich and Infamous
Edwin Meese, III and Hans A. von Spakovsky, The Heritage Foundation
08.31.09
In one of the starkest examples of how plaintiffs’ lawyers want to use Congress to get rich at the expense of the American taxpayer, an amendment that would have generated abusive Medicare litigation on a massive scale—along with the usual huge attorneys’ fees—was recently added to the health care reform bill in the U.S. House of Representatives.[1] The current Medicare statute simply ensures that Medicare is reimbursed for the medical benefits it pays when a third party is legally responsible for a Medicare beneficiary’s injuries or medical costs.
Cost Control: Liability Limits Needed In Reform
Editorial, The Oklahoman
08.16.09
It’s not complicated. Everyone knows much of the expensive medical testing that’s ordered is by doctors trying to protect themselves against malpractice claims. Likewise, the cost of malpractice insurance is part of a physician’s “overhead” charged to patients.
