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Protecting Trial Lawyers from Tort Reform
Commonsense & Wonder —
So on pages 1431-1433 of the Health Care reform bill they talk about a program giving incentive payments to states who try alternative medical liability reforms. However, they would not be able to receive these incentive payments if the reforms limit attorney fees or cap damage payments. So basically you can try anything other than the solutions that might actually work. So corrupt. (hat tip: ...
Buried on page 1431: Potemkin tort reform
Overlawyered —
... A friend points out a little nugget of absurdity and political mendacity in the Pelosi health-care bill. Remember Obama’s effort to try a “test” for tort reform? (We don’t actually need a test, since it has worked to lower medical malpractice coverage and help increase access to doctors in states that have tried it.) Well, Pelosi’s bill has an anti-tort-reform measure. On pages 1431-1433 of the 1990-page spellbinder, there is a financial incentive for states to try “alternative medical liability laws.” But look — you don’t get the incentive if you have a law that would “limit ...
So Much for Tort Reform
The Moderate Voice —
... and she quickly sent me scrambling to dig back into the bill. You see, the bill includes one section with the hopeful sounding title, “Medical Liability Alternatives.” (This is section 2531, found on pages 1431 through 1433 of the bill. For the record, if you follow that link you’ll have access to the entire bill, courtesy of the NY Times, in an easily browsed format for those of you who do not wish to download the entire thing in a pdf file.) ...
Dems: You can have tort reform …
Hot Air » Top Picks —
... has the explicit language found in Section 2531 , emphasis his and mine: (4) CONTENTS OF ALTERNATIVE MEDICAL LIABILITY LAW. – The contents of an alternative liability law are in accordance with this paragraph if - (A) the litigation alternatives contined in the law consist of certificate of merit, early offer, or both; and (B) the law does not limit attorneys’ fees or impose caps on damages. Let’s by all means have the kind of tort “reform” that does nothing to limit damages or curtail attorneys’ fees. What kind of “reform” would that entail? Well, it basically means that ...
Nancy Pelosi’s non-tort reform.
RedState —
... Remember Obama’s effort to try a “test” for tort reform? (We don’t actually need a test, since it has worked to lower medical malpractice coverage and help increase access to doctors in states that have tried it.) Well, Pelosi’s bill has an anti-tort-reform measure. On pages 1431-1433 of the 1990 spellbinder, there is a financial incentive for states to try “alternative medical liability laws.” But look — you don’t get the incentive if you have a law that would “limit attorneys’ fees or impose caps on damages.” ...
Joanne Doroshow: Health Care, Medical Malpractice and Conservative Greed
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com —
... Now, we find mention of some of these issues in the House health care bill. While we don't agree that limits on anyone's legal rights has any place in this bill, at least the House version merely recognizes that states might want to consider a couple of litigation changes that ...
