Left and right continue to forget the center

[cbi0090]

Once again we find ourselves in the middle of a debate on an issue just as important as national defense (odds are I'll die of disease before I die from a terrorist attack) where the extreme poles just cannot meet. We all know the system is not working well and going downhill fast but we just can't face the facts which indicate neither side knows what the hell they are doing.
Let's look at costs. I'm an engineer so forgive me if I use those kinds of examples. Building a home in Florida was pretty cheap till Hurricane Andrew came along and changed the building standards. All of a sudden costs went up about 20%. This is not a bad thing but I'm using it as an example.
"Standards" of care in the medical industry are not really set by professional boards like in, the example above though. Oh, they have them, but the real standards are set by the legal profession and the most recent turn of events coming out of trial results. The doctors try to stay a step ahead but they aren't the ones with a lot of time on their hands thinking of how to "make a case". So they overcompensate or misinterpret things in a manner that causes waste.
People like to point at the amount of money that are paid out in legal fees, court awards, insurance, etc. by doctors but a large portion of costs are going to meet those standards. What does it cost for doctor's to "cover their asses". Often these practices have nothing to do with real medical care.
Tort reform is a must, nothing will change without it.
There are two types of medical care. There is the type we all need to live in today's society. Childhood diseases, common colds, flu's, broken bones, cuts, childbirth, maladies of old age, etc. This care is what we all should pay for and I mean everyone.
There is the other type, though. Chronic situations where one has little control and can permanently devastate not only the life of the person involved but their families as well. Those are the dreaded situations we all hope will not happen to us but they do and no average person could possibly be prepared for them. That's where a universal care system should kick in.
We all take the same chances when we have children or just step out the front door every day. Some of us are lucky, some aren't, most are a little of both.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Once again we find ourselves in the middle of a debate on an issue just as important as national defense (odds are I'll die of disease before I die from a terrorist attack) where the extreme poles just cannot meet. We all know the system is not working well and going downhill fast but we just can't face the facts which indicate neither side knows what the hell they are doing.
Let's look at costs. I'm an engineer so forgive me if I use those kinds of examples. Building a home in Florida was pretty cheap till Hurricane Andrew came along and changed the building standards. All of a sudden costs went up about 20%. This is not a bad thing but I'm using it as an example.
"Standards" of care in the medical industry are not really set by professional boards like in, the example above though. Oh, they have them, but the real standards are set by the legal profession and the most recent turn of events coming out of trial results. The doctors try to stay a step ahead but they aren't the ones with a lot of time on their hands thinking of how to "make a case". So they overcompensate or misinterpret things in a manner that causes waste.
People like to point at the amount of money that are paid out in legal fees, court awards, insurance, etc. by doctors but a large portion of costs are going to meet those standards. What does it cost for doctor's to "cover their asses". Often these practices have nothing to do with real medical care.
Tort reform is a must, nothing will change without it.
There are two types of medical care. There is the type we all need to live in today's society. Childhood diseases, common colds, flu's, broken bones, cuts, childbirth, maladies of old age, etc. This care is what we all should pay for and I mean everyone.
There is the other type, though. Chronic situations where one has little control and can permanently devastate not only the life of the person involved but their families as well. Those are the dreaded situations we all hope will not happen to us but they do and no average person could possibly be prepared for them. That's where a universal care system should kick in.
We all take the same chances when we have children or just step out the front door every day. Some of us are lucky, some aren't, most are a little of both.

Caps have come to Texas with tort reform, yet the % of insured have not gone up significantly and the cost of health care has not gone done. That dog don't hunt, son.

 

[indianaboy]

Once again we find ourselves in the middle of a debate on an issue just as important as national defense (odds are I'll die of disease before I die from a terrorist attack) where the extreme poles just cannot meet. We all know the system is not working well and going downhill fast but we just can't face the facts which indicate neither side knows what the hell they are doing.
Let's look at costs. I'm an engineer so forgive me if I use those kinds of examples. Building a home in Florida was pretty cheap till Hurricane Andrew came along and changed the building standards. All of a sudden costs went up about 20%. This is not a bad thing but I'm using it as an example.
"Standards" of care in the medical industry are not really set by professional boards like in, the example above though. Oh, they have them, but the real standards are set by the legal profession and the most recent turn of events coming out of trial results. The doctors try to stay a step ahead but they aren't the ones with a lot of time on their hands thinking of how to "make a case". So they overcompensate or misinterpret things in a manner that causes waste.
People like to point at the amount of money that are paid out in legal fees, court awards, insurance, etc. by doctors but a large portion of costs are going to meet those standards. What does it cost for doctor's to "cover their asses". Often these practices have nothing to do with real medical care.
Tort reform is a must, nothing will change without it.
There are two types of medical care. There is the type we all need to live in today's society. Childhood diseases, common colds, flu's, broken bones, cuts, childbirth, maladies of old age, etc. This care is what we all should pay for and I mean everyone.
There is the other type, though. Chronic situations where one has little control and can permanently devastate not only the life of the person involved but their families as well. Those are the dreaded situations we all hope will not happen to us but they do and no average person could possibly be prepared for them. That's where a universal care system should kick in.
We all take the same chances when we have children or just step out the front door every day. Some of us are lucky, some aren't, most are a little of both.

So basically you're asking the right to simply cave to the interests of the left. Good old liberal "compromise".

 

[goldcatt]

Tort reform, done right, would be tricky but potentially effective.
By done right, I mean finding the balance between protecting practitioners from bogus suits while allowing the truly harmed access to court and real compensation.
Also, with tort reform enactment the malpractice insurers' insistence on defensive medicine has to go away along with their penchant to pay out settlements on claims that would never win in court. If they don't play ball, costs will never go down no matter how few suits ever see the courtroom.
And consumers who have gotten used to 20 tests for every common cold are going to have to understand they are not going to get every test imaginable for their "peace of mind". They will get what's necessary to diagnose them not to cover the doc's ass, and some will complain that means they are not getting the "quality" they are accustomed to.
Tort reform is part of the solution, but other things have to happen too or it's worthless.

 

[veritas]

Tort reform, done right, would be tricky but potentially effective.
By done right, I mean finding the balance between protecting practitioners from bogus suits while allowing the truly harmed access to court and real compensation.
Also, with tort reform enactment the malpractice insurers' insistence on defensive medicine has to go away along with their penchant to pay out settlements on claims that would never win in court. If they don't play ball, costs will never go down no matter how few suits ever see the courtroom.
And consumers who have gotten used to 20 tests for every common cold are going to have to understand they are not going to get every test imaginable for their "peace of mind". They will get what's necessary to diagnose them not to cover the doc's ass, and some will complain that means they are not getting the "quality" they are accustomed to.
Tort reform is part of the solution, but other things have to happen too or it's worthless.

We already have that. They're called pre-trial motions.

 

[auditor0007]

Once again we find ourselves in the middle of a debate on an issue just as important as national defense (odds are I'll die of disease before I die from a terrorist attack) where the extreme poles just cannot meet. We all know the system is not working well and going downhill fast but we just can't face the facts which indicate neither side knows what the hell they are doing.
Let's look at costs. I'm an engineer so forgive me if I use those kinds of examples. Building a home in Florida was pretty cheap till Hurricane Andrew came along and changed the building standards. All of a sudden costs went up about 20%. This is not a bad thing but I'm using it as an example.
"Standards" of care in the medical industry are not really set by professional boards like in, the example above though. Oh, they have them, but the real standards are set by the legal profession and the most recent turn of events coming out of trial results. The doctors try to stay a step ahead but they aren't the ones with a lot of time on their hands thinking of how to "make a case". So they overcompensate or misinterpret things in a manner that causes waste.
People like to point at the amount of money that are paid out in legal fees, court awards, insurance, etc. by doctors but a large portion of costs are going to meet those standards. What does it cost for doctor's to "cover their asses". Often these practices have nothing to do with real medical care.
Tort reform is a must, nothing will change without it.
There are two types of medical care. There is the type we all need to live in today's society. Childhood diseases, common colds, flu's, broken bones, cuts, childbirth, maladies of old age, etc. This care is what we all should pay for and I mean everyone.
There is the other type, though. Chronic situations where one has little control and can permanently devastate not only the life of the person involved but their families as well. Those are the dreaded situations we all hope will not happen to us but they do and no average person could possibly be prepared for them. That's where a universal care system should kick in.
We all take the same chances when we have children or just step out the front door every day. Some of us are lucky, some aren't, most are a little of both.

Universal insurance for major medical. Basic costs paid out of pocket with subsidies or government programs to the poor. Tort reform along with some form of subsidies for those going into the medical profession. No matter what we do, we need more doctors and nurses, and with the cost of going to school to become a doctor, it is impossible for most. Also, despite the fact that educational costs have gone through the roof, there still aren't enough programs for nursing currently. In many parts of the country, there is a three or four year wait just to get into nursing programs.

What both sides are trying to accomplish currently is either nothing or just putting a bandaid on the wound. It's not going to help reduce costs. We need more competetition, and we will never see that if we create more full-service programs whether it be through private insurance or if it is government run. We need a complete overhaul of the system, but the changes need to come in every sector of healthcare.