2 and 3 are in my opinion, (part of) the problem . There are doctors who habitually claim the fear of lawsuits make them practice the so-called "defensive medicine." But very few of them will mention that "defensive medicine" brings in more revenue (by way of more tests and studies).
I'd like to see a doctor or his insurance company paying money out of pocket where the doctor was not negligent. I have yet to meet one. The fact remains: the only reason why a doctor/insurer pays money is because the doctor made a mistake, and caused an injury to the patient.
In my experience, the vast majority of the time, the exact opposite is true: that the patient is injured, but was unable to get any compensation because: (1) no one exaplined to them what happened, (2) they are afraid to file suit, (3) the cost of lawsuit is too high for them to bring a lawsuit.
Let me quote John Ager, an attorney from Arizona:
"In Arizona, more than 90% of the malpractice cases that go to trial result in defense verdicts. Any lawyer who regularly files frivolous lawsuits is a lawyer who won’t be in business very long."
HCC 发表评论于
>>>1:限制有些病人滥告,设置合理的赔偿上限
Tort reform was already passed in many states. That did not change anything. Take Texas, for example: tort reform (passed in 2003) did not reduce health care costs.
The Congressional Budget Office conducted a study on this issue not that long ago. The conclusion:
"CBO estimates that the direct costs that providers will incur in 2009 for medical malpractice liability—which consist of malpractice insurance premiums together with settlements, awards, and administrative costs not covered by insurance—will total approximately $35 billion, or about 2 percent of total health care expenditures. Therefore, lowering premiums for medical liability insurance by 10 percent would reduce total national health care expenditures by about 0.2 percent."
See http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/ftpdocs/106xx/doc10641/10-09-tort_reform.pdf, page 2.
Well, I only know the Dr. charge me & my insurance about $1200 for the visit, and it is just for annual exam, excluding the wrong bills he charged my insurance for his other patients. I don't know they dare charge to my insurance and expecting I wont' find out.