Tort Reform

[Erudite]

This is a topic I hear a lot about but didn't know very much until I read a student's paper about it. I hope it helps you too.

"Tort law is the means by which individuals seek financial compensation for injuries caused by the actions of others. In the healthcare context, these civil lawsuits are generally known as medical malpractice actions and occur when a patient is injured due to the negligence of a healthcare provider."

So when policy makers talk about tort reform, they're talking about reforming the way courts handle civil suits against others where the suit is asking for damages (usually financial) of some kind. My student's paper goes into a great deal of detail (which is very good for her grade) and covers the main ideas that research is showing mixed results in the need for actual reform including the data not having enough depth to really analyze and that most studies that are done can not be generalized to the healthcare system as a whole. This essentially means that policy makers who cry "foul" are doing so out of more emotion than facts. Many are citing newspaper reports rather than actual court cases/transcripts and so an incomplete and often biased picture is formed.

"Only one-eighth to one-tenth of negligently injured parties choose to bring suit, and of those, only one-third receive compensation for their injuries (Marchev 2002). Nearly 96% of claims filed are settled out of court, are dropped or dismissed, or are heard by a judge sitting without a jury (Laska and Forrest 2004)."

While YES there are doctors who are put out of business because of a lack of tort reform (and likely some actual negligence on their part as well), it is not as widespread as is claimed. And YES malpractice insurance is terrifically expensive, but it also often does the job that needs to be done as many doctors are not put out of business and most cases are settled out of court.

The real truth is that "The tort system is not a highly effective means for providing compensation to victims of negligence. Only 22% of total system costs go to compensation (Hellinger and Encinosa 2009), whereas almost 30% go to administrative costs, and another 30% go to legal defense costs (Towers Perrin 2004). "

Interesting, huh?

[natickgirl]

That is very interesting. I didn't know what "tort reform" meant. Thanks for sharing.

[5ft Diva]

Very enlightening! Thanks for taking the time to explain it! My knowledge on so many subjects is very sheltered and, I'm embarrassed to say, shallow.