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To start things off, let me give you a quote from Ronald Reagan’s speech from his first Inauguration:

In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. From time to time we’ve been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. Well, if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? All of us together, in and out of government, must bear the burden.

While it was not healthcare he was addressing (though I can dig up any number of quotes from the early 60s from Reagan against government healthcare), the quote still very much applies. But how, I can hear you asking, does this apply to the title of this post?

The answer to that is very simple. The “elite group” (Congress in this case) is beholden to another group that is one of the key factors that has driven up healthcare costs in this county. That group? Trial Lawyers.

Growing up with a parent in the healthcare industry (my mother is a CCRN), I’ve heard no end of stories about the cost of medical malpractice insurance. One of the major causes for the expense is due to malpractice lawsuits.

Now, before anyone starts trying to put words into my mouth, let me say this: there are many cases where a lawsuit and large judgment are appropriate. Doctors make mistakes, which impacts someone else’s life in a major way. However, in far more cases, the lawsuits are brought against healthcare professionals purely because the lawyers know many of the insurance companies will settle rather than go to trial.

Unfortunately for the American public, far too many members of Congress are beholden to the American Trial Lawyers’ Association. Due to this, any meaningful Tort reform gets tossed to the wayside. After all, they don’t want to endanger their campaign contributions from wealthy lawyers.

What needs to be done in my opinion? Institute a loser-pays civil lawsuit policy. Make it law that if you sue someone and lose the lawsuit, you have to pay their legal costs. This ensures that someone will think hard about whether or not their case warrants bringing suit before doing so. Instead of someone having to decide if it will cost them more to defend against a lawsuit than to settle in every case, they can look at the merit of the claims instead.

Yes, I fully acknowledge this brings up the issue of corporations being able to hire more competent legal teams than John Q. Public who had a doctor amputate the wrong foot. However, a competent lawyer is far more likely to take the case than the neighborhood ambulance chaser when they know there is a solid case rather than just filing in hope of the company settling.

Of course, I have zero hope that we’ll see any meaningful reform in this area. After all, this might endanger the move toward socialized medicine and shifting yet more power from the People to the Government. And I really wish I could say I’m just a cynic in this case.

stranger Government Outrage, Random Thought