LOL are you joking, do you really believe that once the lawsuits are capped at some ridiculous low ball number that the medical costs will fall? What physician's group or hospital in their right mind would drop their fees when they have turned the medical practice into a greedy dirty slimeball business? Physicians groups are BUSINESSES, hospitals are BUSINESSES, it's all about the money to them. It digs deeper than that, the big pharmas & possibly major food corporates are in on it too. The hospitals, healthcare companies & insurance are all corporations that have zero concern for any human's well being. That is not their focus and as corporation it was never intended to be, their legal duty is to make & grow profit. This is the richest country in the world, yet there is no adequate healthcare system for the average American. It's so messed up that to a person that has a accident like a broken arm or leg bone, the medical costs are scarier than the actual physical trauma. Think a bit outside the box, look at the healthcare stocks, that's why we have the medical costs "problem". It's really only a problem for the common folk who always end up eating most of the cost one way or the other.
I know many doctors....and when I talk with them the number one thing they complain about is the skyrocketing costs of liability insurance. So yes, when these costs are reduced, it will be passed on to the consumer. It's funny how competitve markets work that way. Everyone in this country has access to emergency healthcare, regardless of income, etc. Emergency healthcare is basic healthcare, IMO, and the courts have ruled that hospitals can't turn people away even if they can't pay.
Exactly - Think of John Edwards here. Here's a guy that made his name doing just that, specializing in 'medical malpractice', I think in MS or something else. His cases were based on medical mumbo jumbo about how the doctor didn't do this and didn't do that right, and so got millions - for both himself and his clients. Buuut, later on it was proven that his cases were decided on faulty knowledge.....
I don't. These lawyers are taking on huge cases against large corporations for free. They are buying a lottery ticket and betting on their skills to persuade a judge first that the facts support the verdict and then a jury second that the harm done is grevious enough to justify a large award. I have no problem with that. When we talk about tort reform and ambulance chasers we are really talking about nuisance suits that are nickel and dime by comparison. Here come the bond auction results...
mschey A hypothetical question for you, -first, I hope it never happens again to anyone Let's say your wife is on the operating table, doctors are about to perform sciserian to deliver you first baby. The anesthesiologist screws up and and puts them to death, both of them. ....now take your 250k give 1/3 to your lawyers and walk away happy. How would you feel? If the hospital's liability is capped to 250k why would they even bother to screen for better (and more qualified, expensive doctors) The bottom line is business and money, the patient is only another check to fund the ceo's lavish lifestyles. Do you think the avg joe sixpack has the resources to lobby congress?
I go along ways backand now am part of the elderly of the US. sarg shriver was the inventor of the OEO which later became CSA. Local community CAP agencies of the CSA have struggled relentlessly to mobilize in support of the poor. NCAT was created to affect a marriage of technology and solutions for the poor. As the initial Chairman of the Board (I repped for the EOP during its formation), I can say many many people came up with technical solutions that have been eternally helpful. The grants projects, most of which, became institutional practices, really leveraged money of poor people who were making the choices of food or fuel. Today, the whole SSA and CMS policy/service system is hemoraging yet once again after the BBA fiasco was temporarily cured bt MMA. In 1935 when SS started 90% of the elderly were in poverty and life expectancy was 65, the age at which SS began. Today, 85% of single elderly women are in the same boat. Today, they are making choices between three things: food, fuel and prescriptions. In Liz's service area we have 34,000 persons who qualitfy for state and federal aid for health. None of them are able or willing to get this aid for themselves simply because they have zero access to get through the drill. It is hard to imagine but Harvard study showed that 61% of the population would not consider help simply because of the views the elderly have of what is being projected by the government. We work continually to make contact (we train Meals on Wheels drivers to drop off paper work (in sets of 500 per delivery) so it can be mailed back to us. At long last (months after 15NOV) the word of mouth is setting in. For the non poor the Rx opportunity closes 15MAY06 and a 1% a month penalty begins. I can say that all older people paid their dues all their lives and the system is letting them down. And soon the penalties start. Congress can't even get around to making the enrollment be continually open for seniors. Why can't all elderly people have the chance to knock on the door always and especially when they get to the point of understanding what is what for them. I can tell you that we print business cards in 1000 unit boxes and we have the SSA and SHIP handing them out by the 100's per week. We have finally hit over one hundered seminars a month in a four county area. we have small towns now enjoying cash flows of GOVERNMENT FUNDS flowing into rural communities at a rate of over 100,000 dollars a month and finally, the hospitals are buying preventive maintenance equipment for scans, exams and smears. CMS has actually appeared on one occassion to watch and get an earfull. They are learning that the elderly do not use computers and that they cannot afford to pay US prices for drugs.
I used to know many doctors too but now have little respect for any of them. None of them have an idea of real health anyway, only thing US doctors are truly remarkable at is trauma treatment & plastic surgery. Those doctors are far from poor or even middle class from those big insurance costs, so they need to STFU and look at their career from something other than the financial viewpoint. In the end, the joe shmoe eats it all anyway and does not have that much of a choice cause if you got a broken arm, you're gonna suck it up and go get treated no matter what the financial reprucussions are. Neither the hospital nor the physician's group will pass any savings to the consumer, maybe the occasional doctor here and there but not the whole industry. The medical business has been seeing increased demand from all the numerous problems & conditions the masses have been creating over the last few decades, so why aren't they dropping medical costs from the economies of scale? Why aren't their lower prices from the increased doctor population due to competition? What about all the new technology, isn't that supposed to lower costs as well? How about we pull up and compare the increases of costs to consumer against the increases of liability insurance, I truthfully doubt the doctors ate any of the costs, in fact I know some of which that did the complete opposite. These doctors are still running medicine & treatment as a business and anyone with some common sense & morality should be able to see the big flaw in that. The whole tactic of running up insurance bills through pointless and endless tests nearly cost my mother her life. Ok but in the real world it works a little different. If it's obvious you cannot pay, you get redirected to the sh*t hospital that provides "free" (aka gov subsidized) emergency care. Those places are not a joke, they will let you die in the waiting room and not blink an eye cause they are desentisized with the hell that goes on in there. Otherwise, you get treated at a normal hospital and then get a huge bill. Within months you're sent to collections if your bill is not paid in full. People get bankrupted by the emergency rooms and if you have even done your research on the billing process, it is astounding what those scumbags do. It's a critical decision to people, if you dont have insurance or ur insurance doesnt cover it, going to the hospital and getting care may involve a BK, or heavy debt or loss of assets. I've had my first ever emergency room & hospital visit last year for a cracked rib. It was a prime hospital in a prime location in the Upper East Side. I am absolutely disgusted with what these hospitals charge for the sh*tty service they provide, as well as what these doctors do. A yahoo search provided me with more info than that lame excuse of a doctor. I would have been better off going home, doing my research and actually healing the rib than going to that emergency room which cost me over 1000 bucks. These pricks force you into a certain protocol which lets them charge you up the a$$ even if you clearly know and stipulate that all you really want is an Xray that you want to analyze on ur own. I was there from 10:30Pm till 8AM, a complete waste of my time and probably did more damage to my rib due to the fact that I was not able to simply lie down and immobilize myself. In my opinion, the healthcare & medical system in this country is a complete disgrace and it is in no way the fault of a few lowlife ambulance chasers, the problem has always been with the running of what is supposed to be a noble selfless practice as a greedy business.
Look...I never said I have all the answers...I just believe in taking care of problems and making things better. I clearly stated that 250k was too low....and 20 mil was too much. As for the attourney, it's not even close to a lottery ticket....they listen to the case and only take the ones that are a slam dunk. Doctors do eat the costs....they pay for them with increased premiums. Those costs are passed on to us. One of my wifes very good friends works in and ER in san diego, and the stories she has to tell would really open your eyes. There is alot of abuse going on, and part of the reason costs are so high is because so many don't pay their bills. A few thousand dollars in medical bills is no reason to file bankruptcy...but I was raised in a house where we were taught to take responsibility and pay our bills. (I know there are a few legitimate cases, but many are not) In san diego, we have urgen cares that you can go to and it costs only $85 a visit. They don't have similar solutions in New York? You should move to San Diego then....better weather....lower costs than NY, though not by much...and did I mention the best weather in the country? That's all folks.....I'm out! One last point...socialism....socialized medicine just doesn't work....we all know that capitalism gets things done.
First, I don't see anything wrong with a lawyer evaluating a case to determine if it is likely to succeed on its merits. This is exactly the kind of filter you want in the system. I don't see your point at all. Second, you simply can't put a cap on awards as each circumstance is different. Tell me the tobacco industry didn't deceive the public for decades about the risks of smoking. That deserves a big award as an example to all others. Having said that, when big pharma looks at the legal cost/benefit of revealing defects in their products to the public or just waiting for the lawsuits to hit then its clear the awards and penalties are not large enough. That is a kind of thinking that should be nipped in the bud. Third, big pharma,medical device companies, major hospital chains, etc... have been making bank in a big way for years. Take a look at their profits. Strip out the overpriced acquisition binges and it is even worse. It is absurd to blame individuals for their pricing practices or the practices of their suppliers. This is a problem of regulation and not consumer fraud. To put it another way, the reason there are urgent care centers all over the place is that doctors can make money on a much simpler model. Personally, I prefer the concept of socialized medicine and insurance. If you want to spend more for personalized treatment over and above go for it. Let's recognzie that public health is a social good not just an individual one. I lived in the UK for awhile and found the medical care there to be quite decent. Now if I needed major medical or a specialist I am sure I would have gone to the private sector but for the basics socialized medicine was just fine. Finally, it's ludicrous to believe that people that have a few thousand bucks will avoid paying the doctor by filing for bankruptcy. The financial implications of bankruptcy are much greater than that. What's screwed up is our political class and the fact that scumbag lobbyists have gained so much control. If you want to point a finger that would be where I would start.
Political power and it's responsibilities to the people ("For The People, By The People..."), needs to be segregated entirely from capitalism (corporate interests). Without that and complete transparency, we will never have a fair and just system. IMO, kt