Tort Reform - Presidential Style

President Bush has called for the following steps to deal with Medical Malpractice suits.

- Secure the ability of injured patients to get quick, unlimited compensation for their "economic losses," including the loss of ability to provide unpaid services like care for children or parents.
- Ensure that recoveries for non-economic damages do not exceed a reasonable amount ($250,000).
- Reserve punitive damages for cases where they are justified, and limit punitive damages to reasonable amounts.
- Provide for payments of judgments over time rather than in a single lump sum, to ensure that appropriate payments are there when patients need them.
- Ensure that old cases cannot be brought years after an event.
- Reduce the amount that doctors must pay if a plaintiff has received other payments from an insurer to compensate for their losses.
- Provide that defendants pay judgments in proportion to their fault.

This is better than some of the proposals I've seen. There's no provision that allows for the intimidation of those who would bring suit. But this set up does emphasize once again that American Juries are incapable of handing out appropriate damage in these cases. You will also note the lack of mention of Insurance companies in this framework. Unusual that he would choose to leave the insurance companies out, as we all know they play a role in this.

Listening to Political Crap on CNBC last night (the show may not have been called Political Crap, but I was having a hard time sleeping and so may not have been paying proper attention) some dude made the point that Senator Edwards (quoted earlier this week) is a trial lawyer. This bill, which has little chance of passing the Senate, is more of a political shuffle, taking a swipe at Edwards, without having to defend insurance companies (who are not loved much more than lawyers in the US).