TORT REFORM TORT REFORM TORT REFORM TORT REFORM!!!!

[KingOfLostSouls]

IS LESS THAN 2% OF HEALTH CARE COSTS





fucking republicans are worthless.

[AndyA]

1. The Republicans have no new ideas. They have no plans that work.

Everything they want to do has already been tried, and are proven FAILURES. Just like the Republican Party: FAIL!

Tax cuts for the wealthy didn't work. 8 years of Bush tax cuts created NET ZERO jobs. Those tax cuts also never "trickled down" and they didn't when Bush's father tried it, either. Those tax cuts also didn't help keep the economy strong enough to prevent the worst Recession in GENERATIONS.

Tort Reform is another bullshit plan to help wealthy people. It will help the wealthy, and harm most Americans. And the idiot Republican voters will support it without question because they are so full of hate and bigotry they can't see anything else.

The Republican Party is the pager of yesterday. Instead of looking for the latest technology, and moving forward with new ideas, they hold onto the things of yesterday that really didn't work as well and insist that's the way to fix all the problems.

FAIL FAIL FAIL.

[Enthusiast]

6. +1, AndyA! nt

[liberal N proud]

2. But the GOP is trying once again to help their "REAL" constituents

The corporations.

[librechik]

3. it's not the torts==it's the money lawyers give to Democrats that;s the problem

lawyers who give money to pukkkes no problem more the merrier sue away

[Enthusiast]

4. Unfortunately

I can only recommend this post once.

And the portability issue, "allowing consumers to take their insurance across state lines", that we hear the GOP pushing, is essentially an effort to deregulate the insurance industry.

And these are the only suggestions for HCR that we hear from Republicans. But the M$M reinforces their talking points. How often do we get to hear malpractice suits are only 2% of medical costs?

See, it's all about who holds the microphone, and we ain't givin' it to you, KingOfLostSouls, because you bring up stuff we don't want to talk about.

[Liberal In Texas]

5. Mike Papantonio said on Stephanie's show last week: Less than 1/2 of 1%. n/t

[gratuitous]

7. Yep, it's a pretty miniscule amount of health care costs

And it's added to the cost of health care by a pretty small percentage of doctors. I don't have the specific numbers handy, but it's a small percentage of doctors (less than 10%) who ring up a large percentage (more than half) of medical malpractice claims.

[spanone]

8. tax cuts tax cuts tax cuts....same bullshit

[progressoid]

9. DRILL BABY DRILL! DRILL BABY DRILL! DRILL BABY DRILL!

It's a broken record with these douchebags.

[safeinOhio]

10. I'm for tort reform

Doctors not allowed to sue patients for bills
heavy restrictions and limits on corporations suing real persons.

[JamesA1102]

11. Tort reform victimizes disabled children

In the two states that have tort reform (Texas and California) the largest impact has been felt by children who have received life long disabilities yet have had their damages capped at only a few hundred thousand dollars.

[Bigmack]

12. I have said to doubters....

that tort expenses are a tiny percentage of health care costs. They don't believe me, even when presented with stats from respected sources... on paper.

Our parrot will learn short phrases if you repeat them often enough, and many Murikans have the same IQ and ability to repeat when Fux Snooze tells them often enough.

[Rapanui1]

13. tort reform is the only thing that Obama admin will pass and claim it as victory

tort reform is the only thing that Obama admin will pass and claim it as victory for the American people. We have thus far seen with the HCR
1. Removal/no addition of public option
2. forcing 30 mn people to private entities
3. No cap on the premium, making HCR more dangerous than no reform.

Nextime Obama fails again he will throw a few more crumbs to the gays and declare victory for all Americans begging for votes back in '12 again.

[Blue Meany]

14. Ah yes, but "tort reform" could affect many economic sectors...

limiting the liability of companies for the collateral damage--lives lost, communities destroyed, ecosystems decimated, etc.--of their "productive" activities. Since corportions are actually "super citizens," with rights and privileges but no obligations to the commonwealth, the liability of individuals would remain untouched in Repubican "tort reform"

[Orsino]

15. Correction: *total medical malpractice* is under 2% of health care costs.

Even the most avid tort-reformers aren't proposing to eliminate the concept of malpractice completely.

[laughingliberal]

19. No, they just want to make sure the penalties are not stiff enough to change the behavior

The precise reason for punitive damages is to make bad behavior painful enough that it will change. If penalties are not painful enough, nothing changes. Think Ford Motor company. It was cheaper to pay a few lawsuits than to fix the gas tank defect in the Pinto. As an RN I can tell you the hospitals operate on the same principle. It is more profitable to short the nurse staffing levels and pay a few lawsuits than to provide adequate care. Limit their liability a little more and it get's downright dangerous.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

16. What They Don't Tell You About Tort Reform

The biggest myth about Tort Reform is that it somehow brings down healthcare costs. What they don't tell you is that the States that HAVE tort reform in place ALL have higher healthcare costs than EVERY State that doesn't. What they also don't tell you is that the money that insurance companies save by not having to pay for the life-altering injuries incompetent doctors cause, they don't pass on to their customers. It goes right into their pockets. And the saddest thing of all? There is Congressional, on-the-record TESTIMONY, that has been released to the media and is available to ANYONE who cares to see it, by insurance company executives, saying UNDER OATH that tort reform will do NOTHING to bring down healthcare costs.

Let me give you an example of how this little scheme works using a hypothetical business. I run a business that manufactures widgets. It costs me $100 to make the widget (considering materials, labor costs, shipping, taxes, and everything else a business has to spend money on--in this case, let's assume that my insurance costs are figured into that $100), so at the end of the day, for me to put one widget on a store shelf, I have to pay out $100. OK, now I SELL the widgets for $200. That means every time I sell a widget, I make $100 of profit. Now, along comes nice Mr. Republican, who gives me tort reform and lowers and my liability for defective products that injure my customers. Now that I have tort reform, my cost to manufacture a widget goes down from $100 to $50. Now, here's the part where Republicans declare that they have just brought the price of widgets down, nod smugly, and wander off to listen to right-wing radio, but stick around for the denoument. See, now that my manufacturing costs have been cut in half, you'd probably assume that I would drop the price of widgets down to $150, thereby keeping my profit of $100 per widget. But that's where you're wrong. See, what the insurance companies did was cut their "manufacturing costs" in half, but they kept the price of "widgets" the same. And where did that extra $50 go? I think you know the answer to that question.

And that's why tort reform has ZERO effect on healthcare costs. All it does is reward insurance companies, keep incompetent doctors in business, and HURT the people who have ALREADY been hurt.

It's the old, tried and true Republican playbook. Find a villain (in this case, evil, greedy lawyers--oh, how we hate them--boo!!!), scare the public into thinking, "they're tryin' to take our shit!!!" (that, to me, sums up the Republican philosophy in one sentence--you have something--usually money, guns, freedom, or "morals"--, and somebody else, some outside, evil force, is trying to take it away from you--hence, "Vote Republican: because they're tryin' to take our shit"), and then sit back and laugh as the idiot masses clamor to GIVE AWAY all the things they're afraid the evil monsters are trying to take. "Here, nice Mr. Corporation, take all my money; it's the only way it will be safe from the evil liberals!!! Lord help me, they're tryin' to take my shit!!!"

[ljm2002]

17. But as per usual, the sound bite wins the day...

...we have nothing comparable to use. So when they say "Tort reform!", they make it sound like a good thing. It's a phrase that the newscasters can put out there -- "Well how about an idea like tort reform?" -- the person gets to sound as though they know something.

Which, in general, they do not. Or if they do, they're not letting anything on to the ordinary viewer, who is left with the sound bite and little else of substance.

Where the hell is our side, I'd like to know? Cowering the corner, as usual, scared to death that a big bad mean ol' Republican will say something mean like "You're only against tort reform because of all those nasty Defense Attorneys who make the big bucks and support you and your party!".

Have you ever -- I mean, *ever* -- seen an effective response regarding tort reform on any of the TV talk shows?

Me neither.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

20. How About..........

..........."Stop Rewarding Malpractice"? It fits on a bumper sticker. And that's the problem these days. The public will only remember things in bumper sticker-sized bites. And unfortunately, you just can't boil complex things down to 3-word phrases. And as I said above, you need to identify a "monster" in order to really move people. People hate lawyers, so paint a Snidely Whiplash mustache on them and make them your villains. But if we try to do that to doctors, well, the reaction will be, "We wuv doctors! They're just trying to HELP widdle ol' us, you bad, bad liberal! You're probably trying to take my shit, aren't you!" and there will be backlash.

The only way to counter the propaganda is to give the idiot public an even scarier monster, like the insurance companies themselves. People HATE paying outrageous premiums, so you have to show them that the insurance companies are evil, money-sucking machines that don't care a bit about people; just more profits. But good luck being able to do that in 3 words or less.

That's the problem our side faces. In order to win, you have to appeal to the dumb. You have to appeal to the people who sit and watch "Ow! My Balls!" on TV for hours at a time (if you haven't seen the movie "Idiocracy," you should). And since liberals are more intellectual, it's hard for us to "dumb down" our message.

[Taitertots]

22. "Universal Health Care IS Tort Reform"

Removing the need to pay for continuing health care costs would be a huge reform to tort litigation.

[Taitertots]

18. Tort reform is what people advocate when they don't want to have health care reform

It is just a excuse for them. It allows them to pass off the blame for our failed system.


Public health care would make tort reform pointless. They would already be fully covered for any medical complications so no money would need to be awarded to pay for continuing care.

[Last Stand]

21. well said and on point. nt