Nobody seems to ask WHY medical costs are so high, and why insurance costs so much. It looks to me that doctors pay through the nose for their own insurance due to ridiculous payouts on frivolous lawsuits and pass the cost on to us. Why aren't politicians addressing the root cost of high medical costs (that is, lawyers)? How about a system that doesn't allow doctors to be sued at all, but removes the license to practice from doctors who have X number of complaints per X months of duty? Any ideas?
crumbygreens
Lawsuits are only a small part of the problem.
There was an interesting analysis in an article in Consumer Reports latest issue. Research done by Darthmouth Medical School showed that a communities medicare bill is determined by its supply of hospital bed and physicians, rather than medical needs. They also showed that regions of the US that spent more per capita had worse quality of care and that the outcome was no better in regions where more money is spent. The more doctors and hospitals that are available the more they have to find problems to bill for to pay for their high salaries.
One reason is greed. Dr. will perform unneeded procedures. The example was a person who had hear surgery that was un-needed. It was fraud to get money. Drs order lots of expensive test because they know the insurance will pay.
Also, there are patients who insist on the latest expensive medcine even if it is not the best for them.
Prescription meds that are under patent are expensive and not always better. All they have to do is prove the med is better than a sugar pill to get it on the market. They do not have to prove it is better than a standard med. This is lame. I'm a plant breeder and we always have to show how our plants stack up against the standard cultivars.
Orignal From: If the high cost of medical care is really due to high lawsuit costs, why aren't politicians addressing this?
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