CBO: Tort Reform Will Lower the Federal Deficit

Many doctors pay $100,000 to $250,000 a year in malpractice insurance even if they've never had a judgment against them. Neurology leads the list of high-cost malpractice insurance. Obstetrics isn't far behind.

Medical malpractice reform would reduce the annual federal deficit, saving the government $54 billion over 10 years, according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office.

It's the Republicans that are pushing for tort reform. The Democrats, however, have been ignoring those calls. Not surprisingly, they are bankrolled heavily by trial lawyers.

You can find the original article here.

Republican Alternatives to ObamaCare

To listen to Obama, Reid and Pelosi, Republicans have done nothing positive in the health care debate. They have offered nothing constructive and certainly no alternatives. I have covered several alternatives here.

In addition, Republicans are making sure everyone knows they have proposed alternatives -- thirty-five of them, to be exact. Not that you'd know that from the evening news. I'm just sayin'.

"You've got the House working group -- solutions working group on health care; you've got a proposal there. You've got H.R. 3400. Or you could go to healthcare.gop.gov and you can see all of the proposals -- all of them. They're right there," House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters on Thursday.

And yet every time Republicans put something out, the Democrats stall it. "The thing that's killing me is that those very members on the Republican side have over the course of the last five months offered some 800 amendments and individual pieces of legislation to the -- to the president and to (House Speaker) Nancy (Pelosi) and Harry Reid, to say, 'Hey, this is our contribution.' Every last piece has been rejected," said Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele.

Here are some of the alternatives put forth by the Republicans:

• The Small Business Health Fairness Act


• Patients' Choice Act, sponsored by Paul Ryan. (PDF)


• Empowering Patients First Act, sponsored by Rep. Tom Price. (PDF)


• Access to Insurance for All Americans Act, sponsored by Rep. Darrell Issa.


• Patient-Controlled Healthcare Protection Act of 2009, sponsored by Rep. Louie Gohmert

The GOP has put together a web page for its alternatives.

The original article can be found here.

Health Care Problems and Solutions

If you believe no proposals have been given by health care opponents, or are wondering what exactly is wrong with the system, have no fear.

I wrote earlier about John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods. He suggested several concrete steps to fixing what is wrong with health care.

I wrote here about John Stossel's piece on health care, too.

Today, Phil Klein and Greg Conko write an excellent letter about what is wrong with health care and give several solid solutions.

Also, Grover Norquist writes an excellent op-ed about Obama's unfortunate (for him) allusion to the Post Office. If you have ever thought the Post Office is genuinely competing with UPS and FedEx, this is a must-read.

Did the French Medical System Kill Princess Diana?

In an interesting article from ABC News, Susan James asks the question about Princess Di's death. In it she points out the differences in how the French "stay and play" and American "scoop and run" systems operate. She tells how Princess Di was treated for 110 minutes before actually making it to an emergency room.

The original article can be found here.

A Suggestion for Obama's Exit Strategy

Charles Krauthammer is a 1987 Pulitzer Prize winner, 1984 National Magazine Award winner, and a columnist for The Washington Post since 1985. He explains what Obama and the Democrats can do to escape from the hell of health care reform, and why it will eventually lead to a single-payer system.

In summary, here are his ideas:

1. Forget the single payer system.


2. Get rid of end-of-life counseling in the bills.


3. Speak only quietly about health committees making health care best practices.


4. Don't talk about this cutting costs.


5. Sell the sizzle, not the steak.

This will create a bill that even Republicans will jump on, because it stresses the private sector and de-emphasizes government intervention.

The rub? The government so heavy-handedly determines not only what the insurance companies cover, but how much they make off it. Government expenditures on health care go through the roof and it gets so bad the people see only one option left: because private enterprise has "failed", government must step in and take care of it. Then comes the rationing.

And people will jump for it, because we have seen time and again with welfare, Medicare/Medicaid and more, once people start suckling on the government teat, no pain is too great to stay on it.

The article can be found here.

Why Competition Is Important and Why It Won't Happen Under ObamaCare

John Stossel explains what competition, choice and the profit/loss motives are and why Obama doesn't really understand competition. He explains how the government proposals, despite being touted as promoting competition, are actually dictating choice and forbidding competition.

The full article is here.

Republicans Offer Medicare Manifesto

The Republicans have offered up something to appease seniors. Instead of offering to cut Medicare like they have done in years past, they want to oppose any moves to trim Medicare spending or limit end-of-life care to seniors.

The party has also declared to oppose any attempt to "insert the government between seniors and their doctors." Tell me, folks, who runs Medicare? The government. I don't understand where the Republicans think they are going with this one.

The Republican idea doesn't address problems or give other solutions to the health care insurance debate, like the problems of high costs, pre-existing condition clauses, ridiculous lawsuits, lack of doctors, etc. This just goes to show that nobody in Washington, Republicans included, has an idea of how to make progress.

The original article can be found here at The Wall Street Journal.

Alternatives to Progressive Health Care Reform

By now, there should be no doubt in anyone's mind that this is not really about health care reform. It is about health care revolution.

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal on August 11, 2009. In it he proposed some ways of reforming health care without instituting big government. Some of his ideas:

• Remove the legal obstacles that slow the creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts (HSAs).


• Equalize the tax laws so that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned health insurance have the same tax benefits.


• Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines.


• Repeal government mandates regarding what insurance companies must cover.


• Enact tort reform to end the ruinous lawsuits that force doctors to pay insurance costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.


• Make costs transparent so that consumers understand what health-care treatments cost.


• Enact Medicare reform.


• Revise tax forms to make it easier for individuals to make a voluntary, tax-deductible donation to help the millions of people who have no insurance and aren't covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

I think this is a good start. I don't totally agree with every point but it does address the problems we currently have, does not increase the size of government, and works within the system we have.

You can read the entire op-ed here.