But for chap? Nothin’ to see here, folks, move on….

There is virtually nothing. I went back and looked at the stats for Texas and actually premiums did not even come down by 25% It was more like 15%. So we are talking about 15% of 2% for a grand total of… one third of one percent!!! WOO HOO!! Break out the champagne!

And, in fact, in Texas after the caps were put in the insurance companies still tried to RAISE their rates. Until the government stepped in.

One can be perfectly happy to support med mal reform for any number of reasons. But deluding yourself into thinking that it is in any way shape or form going to put a serious dent in medical costs is counter productive to those that want to seriously address the issue.

And as far as the “defensive medicine”, if there were a link between that and tort reform, Texas would have seen a tangible decrease (or at least less of an increase) in medical costs, right? BUT THEY HAVE NOT. Spending on medical care in Texas has gone up as much or more than any other place in the country.

Also, if you think Texas is the only example, think again. California has had a cap since 1975. Has it worked there?

Even the insurers admit that caps are useless in lowering costs. GE Medical, which is the largest Med Mal insurer admitted that:

Non-economic damages are a small percentage of total losses paid. Capping non-economic damages will show loss savings of 1.0 percent.

Nahhh…if Texas had so-so success with its reforms, the lesson is that no other state can try to do better, OR that the feds could take a different approach.

Suppose “all” we could save annually were five percent. In a trillion-dollar sector of the economy that’s 50 BILLION dollars that would NOT be wasted, but could be used for productive medical purposes, or even help fund catastrophic insurance.

But for chap? Nothin’ to see here, folks, move on….

So what are we waiting for Chap?

Something that will put an actual dent in costs. It’s not like you could totally eliminate malpractice premiums. I think Texas’s malpractice premiums got lowered by about 25% (and that was only AFTER the government stepped in and threatened the insurers because they had not voluntarily dropped their rates commensurate with their lower risk). So for anyone to say that something which may, at best, have about .5% influence on medical costs as a “first priority” is silly.

Tell me…what percent of overall health care cost in the US are made up of malpractice insurance premiums?

Hint: about 2%.

So what are we waiting for Chap?

The plan for a series of grass-roots demonstrations Tuesday

GRASS-ROOTS! Grass roots would be the “rowdy” people they referred to. I’m starting to think that all Libs are in fact, completly insane. FROM THE TOP DOWN! And back up again. The only way these people could buy a clue,is if was a government subsidized clue.

These groups are marching at UnitedHeathcare. AARP (remember them?) has an insurance plan with United. And AARP, supposedly, supports the President’s plan. What’s up with this?

Malpractice insurance is the issue that Odumba keeps ignoring, mainly because his trial-lawyer pals want him to. If his plan doesn’t include tort reform as the first priority, it’s dead on arrival.

Tell me… how much did health insurance costs go down in Texas after they instituted med mal reform?

Hint: They didn’t. In fact Texas has the 10th highest paycheck-to-premium ratio in the country.

Tell me…what percent of overall health care cost in the US are made up of malpractice insurance premiums?

Hint: about 2%.

I keep saying this but I will say it again. Tort reform is a canard. Its primary useful function in this debate is as a bargaining chip.

Show us the way Dear Limousine Liberal Majority Leader Tom Daschle–just file your taxes first. Suicide Is Painless – Mr. Majority Leader.

The plan for a series of grass-roots demonstrations

specific talking points, tactics, props and strategies to stage the protests.

“There is nothing top-down about this.”

Uh….riiiiiiight.

Insert laugh belly busting, side splitting, guffaw track here.

MoveOn claims there are 102 rallies in the works.

Any bets on how different the drive-by media coverage will be as compared to the Tea Parties?