Texas Tort Reform

[Canceled2]

http://tortreform.com/node/538

By: Gov. Rick Perry
OpEd Contributor

To hear federal officials tell it, they've got all the answers on health care and it's up to the rest of us to sit, wait and embrace whatever solution -- if any -- they may eventually provide.

I find this troubling, since states have shown they know a thing or two about solving problems that affect their citizens.

Texas, in fact, stands as a good example of how smart, responsible policy can help us take major steps toward fixing a damaged medical system, starting with legal reforms.

Success in the business community:

http://www.atra.org/wrap/files.cgi/7964_howworks.html

Texas was awarded the 2004 Governor's Cup award for the largest number of job creation announcements (Site Selection Magazine, 3/05).
Texas also was selected as the state with the best business climate in the nation by Site Selection Magazine (Site Selection Magazine, 3/05).
Successes in the medical community:

The American Medical Association dropped Texas from its list of states in medical liability crisis (Houston Chronicle, 5/17/05).
Malpractice claims are down and physician recruitment and retention are up, particularly in high risk specialties (Houston Chronicle, 5/17/05).
The five largest Texas insurers cut rates, which will save doctors about $50 million, according to the AMA (Houston Chronicle, 5/17/05).
Malpractice lawsuits in Harris County have dropped to about half of what they were in 2001 and 2002. There were 204 cases filed in 2004, compared with 441 in 2001 and 550 in 2002. There were 1,154 lawsuits filed in 2003, attributed to attorneys trying to file before the new law took effect (Houston Chronicle, 5/17/05).
Harris County has seen a net gain of 689 physicians, an 8.4 percent increase, according to the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners (Houston Chronicle, 5/17/05).
Texas Medical Liability Trust, the state's largest liability carrier, reduced its premiums by 17 percent (Houston Chronicle, 5/17/05).
Fifteen new insurance companies have entered the Texas market (Associated Press, 2/16/05).
Health Care Indemnity, the state's largest carrier for hospitals, cut rates by 15 percent in 2004 (Associated Press, 2/16/05).
American Physicians Insurance Exchange and The Doctor's Company also reduced premiums (Associated Press, 2/16/05).
The American Physicians Insurance Exchange saw a $3.5 million reduction in premiums for Texas physicians in 2005. In addition, beginning May 1, 2005, 2,2000 of the 3,500 physicians insured by the company would see an average drop of 5 percent in their premiums (The Heartland Institute, 5/1/05).


Just six years ago, Texas was mired in a health care crisis. Our doctors were leaving the state, or abandoning the profession entirely, because of frivolous lawsuits and the steadily increasing medical malpractice insurance premiums that resulted.

Two thirds of our state's counties had no practicing obstetricians, and for pregnant women that meant long trips in cramped cars and higher fuel bills. Sixty percent of our counties had no pediatricians, which often meant delayed, or denied, health care for sick children.

And 24 counties in the Rio Grande Valley had no primary care doctors at all.
Each of those factors made it more likely that patients in underserved areas would postpone seeking care, which meant minor issues became major issues, and illnesses that could have been treated simply, easily and economically in the doctor's office turned into severe health crises that had to be treated in the emergency room.

And the situation was worsening with every passing day. By 2002, 13 of the state's 17 liability insurance carriers had left Texas, leaving less competition and leaving doctors with insurance bills that were seeing double-digit increases, if they could get insurance at all. That same year, applications for medical licenses plummeted to the lowest level in a decade.

This being Texas, instead of throwing money at the problem or debating endlessly, we identified the root causes and decided to do something about it.
In 2003, I declared the medical liability crisis an emergency item, and the legislature responded, passing sweeping reforms that protected the patient, but also shielded doctors and hospitals from unscrupulous trial lawyers eager to make a quick buck at the system's expense.

We capped non-economic damages at $250,000 per defendant, or up to $750,000 per incident, while placing no cap on more easily determined economic damages, such as lost wages or cost of medical care due to injury.

We ended the practice of allowing baseless, but expensive, lawsuits to drag on indefinitely, requiring plaintiffs to provide expert witness reports to support their claims within four months of filing suit or drop the case.

These measures were supported by the people of Texas, who in September of 2003 approved a ballot measure, Proposition 12, authorizing all of these changes.

Changes were seen immediately, and continue to be felt. All major liability insurers cut their rates upon passage of our reforms, with most of those cuts ranging in the double-digits. More than 10 new insurance carriers entered the Texas market, increasing competition and further lowering costs.
As a result, Texas doctors have seen their insurance rates decline by, on average, 27 percent.

The number of doctors applying to practice medicine in Texas has skyrocketed by 57 percent. In 2008, the Texas Medical Board received 4,023 licensure applications and issued a record 3,621 new licenses.

In all, in just the first five years after reforms passed, 14,498 doctors either returned to practice in Texas or began practicing here for the first time.
And our reforms finally brought critical specialties to underserved areas. The number of obstetricians practicing in rural Texas is up by 27 percent, and 12 counties that previously had no obstetricians now have at least one. The statistics show major gains in fields like orthopedic surgery, pediatrics, neurosurgery and emergency medicine.

The Rio Grande Valley has seen an 18 percent growth in applications to practice medicine, adding about 200 doctors to this critically underserved area.

And what about the money that used to go to defending all those frivolous lawsuits? You can find it in budgets for upgraded equipment, expanded emergency rooms, patient safety programs and improved primary and charity care.

Success stories like ours need to be told, and need to be remembered as we continue this national debate.

Instead of handing down "one size fits all" mandates on how it's going to be, Washington should be enabling states to set their own agendas, and solve their own problems, when it comes to health care.

[FUCK THE POLICE]

The cost reductions from tort reform aren't going to be very significant.

[FUCK THE POLICE]

The Rio Grande Valley has seen an 18 percent growth in applications to practice medicine, adding about 200 doctors to this critically underserved area.

Illegal immigrants.

[SmarterthanYou]

tort reform has it's advantages, but reducing health care costs isn't one of them.

[ZappasGuitar]

http://tortreform.com/node/538

By: Gov. Rick Perry
OpEd Contributor

To hear federal officials tell it, they've got all the answers on health care and it's up to the rest of us to sit, wait and embrace whatever solution -- if any -- they may eventually provide.

I find this troubling, since states have shown they know a thing or two about solving problems that affect their citizens.

Texas, in fact, stands as a good example of how smart, responsible policy can help us take major steps toward fixing a damaged medical system, starting with legal reforms.

Success in the business community:

http://www.atra.org/wrap/files.cgi/7964_howworks.html

Texas was awarded the 2004 Governor's Cup award for the largest number of job creation announcements (Site Selection Magazine, 3/05).
Texas also was selected as the state with the best business climate in the nation by Site Selection Magazine (Site Selection Magazine, 3/05).
Successes in the medical community:

The American Medical Association dropped Texas from its list of states in medical liability crisis (Houston Chronicle, 5/17/05).
Malpractice claims are down and physician recruitment and retention are up, particularly in high risk specialties (Houston Chronicle, 5/17/05).
The five largest Texas insurers cut rates, which will save doctors about $50 million, according to the AMA (Houston Chronicle, 5/17/05).
Malpractice lawsuits in Harris County have dropped to about half of what they were in 2001 and 2002. There were 204 cases filed in 2004, compared with 441 in 2001 and 550 in 2002. There were 1,154 lawsuits filed in 2003, attributed to attorneys trying to file before the new law took effect (Houston Chronicle, 5/17/05).
Harris County has seen a net gain of 689 physicians, an 8.4 percent increase, according to the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners (Houston Chronicle, 5/17/05).
Texas Medical Liability Trust, the state's largest liability carrier, reduced its premiums by 17 percent (Houston Chronicle, 5/17/05).
Fifteen new insurance companies have entered the Texas market (Associated Press, 2/16/05).
Health Care Indemnity, the state's largest carrier for hospitals, cut rates by 15 percent in 2004 (Associated Press, 2/16/05).
American Physicians Insurance Exchange and The Doctor's Company also reduced premiums (Associated Press, 2/16/05).
The American Physicians Insurance Exchange saw a $3.5 million reduction in premiums for Texas physicians in 2005. In addition, beginning May 1, 2005, 2,2000 of the 3,500 physicians insured by the company would see an average drop of 5 percent in their premiums (The Heartland Institute, 5/1/05).


Just six years ago, Texas was mired in a health care crisis. Our doctors were leaving the state, or abandoning the profession entirely, because of frivolous lawsuits and the steadily increasing medical malpractice insurance premiums that resulted.

Two thirds of our state's counties had no practicing obstetricians, and for pregnant women that meant long trips in cramped cars and higher fuel bills. Sixty percent of our counties had no pediatricians, which often meant delayed, or denied, health care for sick children.

And 24 counties in the Rio Grande Valley had no primary care doctors at all.
Each of those factors made it more likely that patients in underserved areas would postpone seeking care, which meant minor issues became major issues, and illnesses that could have been treated simply, easily and economically in the doctor's office turned into severe health crises that had to be treated in the emergency room.

And the situation was worsening with every passing day. By 2002, 13 of the state's 17 liability insurance carriers had left Texas, leaving less competition and leaving doctors with insurance bills that were seeing double-digit increases, if they could get insurance at all. That same year, applications for medical licenses plummeted to the lowest level in a decade.

This being Texas, instead of throwing money at the problem or debating endlessly, we identified the root causes and decided to do something about it.
In 2003, I declared the medical liability crisis an emergency item, and the legislature responded, passing sweeping reforms that protected the patient, but also shielded doctors and hospitals from unscrupulous trial lawyers eager to make a quick buck at the system's expense.

We capped non-economic damages at $250,000 per defendant, or up to $750,000 per incident, while placing no cap on more easily determined economic damages, such as lost wages or cost of medical care due to injury.

We ended the practice of allowing baseless, but expensive, lawsuits to drag on indefinitely, requiring plaintiffs to provide expert witness reports to support their claims within four months of filing suit or drop the case.

These measures were supported by the people of Texas, who in September of 2003 approved a ballot measure, Proposition 12, authorizing all of these changes.

Changes were seen immediately, and continue to be felt. All major liability insurers cut their rates upon passage of our reforms, with most of those cuts ranging in the double-digits. More than 10 new insurance carriers entered the Texas market, increasing competition and further lowering costs.
As a result, Texas doctors have seen their insurance rates decline by, on average, 27 percent.

The number of doctors applying to practice medicine in Texas has skyrocketed by 57 percent. In 2008, the Texas Medical Board received 4,023 licensure applications and issued a record 3,621 new licenses.

In all, in just the first five years after reforms passed, 14,498 doctors either returned to practice in Texas or began practicing here for the first time.
And our reforms finally brought critical specialties to underserved areas. The number of obstetricians practicing in rural Texas is up by 27 percent, and 12 counties that previously had no obstetricians now have at least one. The statistics show major gains in fields like orthopedic surgery, pediatrics, neurosurgery and emergency medicine.

The Rio Grande Valley has seen an 18 percent growth in applications to practice medicine, adding about 200 doctors to this critically underserved area.

And what about the money that used to go to defending all those frivolous lawsuits? You can find it in budgets for upgraded equipment, expanded emergency rooms, patient safety programs and improved primary and charity care.

Success stories like ours need to be told, and need to be remembered as we continue this national debate.

Instead of handing down "one size fits all" mandates on how it's going to be, Washington should be enabling states to set their own agendas, and solve their own problems, when it comes to health care.

Wow, an op-ed piece from the guy who LED the charge to deregulation here in Texas...you know you can trust him!!

There's just one little thing wrong with Mr Perry's opinion. it just doesn't jibe with those pesky facts:

By JASON ROBERSON / The Dallas Morning News
jroberson@dallasnews.com

Armed with new data showing that the cost of health insurance in Texas is soaring seven times faster than incomes, the Texas Hospital Association and the National Federation of Independent Business/Texas on Tuesday pushed lawmakers to pass bills aimed at making health care more affordable and accessible.

The groups' vocal stance at the Capitol in Austin was timed with "Cover the Uninsured Week," a campaign organized by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a nonprofit healthcare advocacy group in Princeton, N.J. The foundation issued a report this week on how the nation's health-care system has deteriorated since the last major health reform push in 1994.

Since then, the number of uninsured Texans has grown from 4.3 million to 5.7 million, the report said.

The Texas hospital and small-business groups on Tuesday voiced support for 25 bills that have been introduced this legislative session. Of those, five seek to restructure the state's high-risk insurance pool, which was created for people unable to qualify for Medicaid or Medicare or to secure private insurance.

The groups note that 82 percent of uninsured Texans are in working families.

Providing health-care coverage for employees is especially challenging for a small employer, the groups said. In Texas, about 75 percent of all businesses are small companies, and only a third of them offer insurance.

"Health care affordability and accessibility are the top priority for small-business owners year after year," said Lance Lively, legislative director for NFIB/Texas "They continue to pay an average of 18 percent more than their big-business counterparts for the same coverage."

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation report this week concluded that costs for individual insurance policies in Texas have increased 63 percent

here's the whole article:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/032509dnbushealthinsurance.681a6428.html

[uscitizen]

Did I miss something or was there no mention of improving physicians quality of care and reducing the incidence of malparactice?

So if they cut off the wrong hand you get 250K max? For the loss of a hand?
Then of course the other hand had to come off anyway so now you have no hands?
Or worse for the loss of a parent or child?

Tort reform is at the base level loss of freedom to pursue "justice".

But then I suppose anything that stands in the way of profit...

[Thorn]

Did I miss something or was there no mention of improving physicians quality of care and reducing the incidence of malparactice?
So if they cut off the wrong hand you get 250K max? For the loss of a hand?
Then of course the other hand had to come off anyway so now you have no hands?
Or worse for the loss of a parent or child?

Tort reform is at the base level loss of freedom to pursue "justice".

But then I suppose anything that stands in the way of profit...

I didn't see anything on that either. Also all the premium reductions apparently were for malpractice insurance, not health coverage premiums. I can attest personally that there certainly were no reductions in that arena.

On a brighter side, however, the medical schools have undertaken a big change in direction in the way that students are taught. Texas has lagged behind most of the rest of the country in this respect, but the med schools in the state have now adopted a strategy of problem-based study as opposed to the old learning by rote approach. It is far more effective in producing physicians who actually think about the whole spectrum of a patient's condition, and both students and professors alike praise the program. Patients ultimately will benefit tremendously.

[uscitizen]

I didn't see anything on that either. Also all the premium reductions apparently were for malpractice insurance, not health coverage premiums. I can attest personally that there certainly were no reductions in that arena.

On a brighter side, however, the medical schools have undertaken a big change in direction in the way that students are taught. Texas has lagged behind most of the rest of the country in this respect, but the med schools in the state have now adopted a strategy of problem-based study as opposed to the old learning by rote approach. It is far more effective in producing physicians who actually think about the whole spectrum of a patient's condition, and both students and professors alike praise the program. Patients ultimately will benefit tremendously.

Thanks for the good news Thorn.

[Fish]

Just a reminder that this is how laws are passed through the Texas State House of Representatives.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG6X-xtVask"

[uscitizen]

Just a reminder that this is how laws are passed through the Texas State House of Representatives.

YouTube - Texas Legislation (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG6X-xtVask)

Man OH Man that is great!

Thanks Fish.

Integrity indeed.

Everyone should watch this vid.

[Cancel 2018. 3]

tort reform has it's advantages, but reducing health care costs isn't one of them.

exactly.....

the insurance companies have done a great job of convincing people of the evils of tort claims. in the 80's and early 90's people still believed you shoudl be punished for your wrong or you should compensate those you wronged or both.....a few juries, and i mean a very few, juries got carried away and slammed big corps with stupid amounts. this fed the media hype and then the media easily ran stories such as the famous mc'd hot coffee old lady story as an example of egregious lawsuits.....

left out of all the media hype....were the actual facts of the case....if you read the actual case and facts, the award was completely justified. but, americans as a whole tend to swallow the news as gospel.

in state after state where so called tort reform has happened, especially the med mal tort reform....studies have now shown that doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies actually are charging more now, despite lower awards in lawsuits.....

we've been hoodwinked once again by powerful lobbyists

[Canceled2]

Wow, an op-ed piece from the guy who LED the charge to deregulation here in Texas...you know you can trust him!!

There's just one little thing wrong with Mr Perry's opinion. it just doesn't jibe with those pesky facts:

By JASON ROBERSON / The Dallas Morning News
jroberson@dallasnews.com

Armed with new data showing that the cost of health insurance in Texas is soaring seven times faster than incomes, the Texas Hospital Association and the National Federation of Independent Business/Texas on Tuesday pushed lawmakers to pass bills aimed at making health care more affordable and accessible.

The groups' vocal stance at the Capitol in Austin was timed with "Cover the Uninsured Week," a campaign organized by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a nonprofit healthcare advocacy group in Princeton, N.J. The foundation issued a report this week on how the nation's health-care system has deteriorated since the last major health reform push in 1994.

Since then, the number of uninsured Texans has grown from 4.3 million to 5.7 million, the report said.

The Texas hospital and small-business groups on Tuesday voiced support for 25 bills that have been introduced this legislative session. Of those, five seek to restructure the state's high-risk insurance pool, which was created for people unable to qualify for Medicaid or Medicare or to secure private insurance.

The groups note that 82 percent of uninsured Texans are in working families.

Providing health-care coverage for employees is especially challenging for a small employer, the groups said. In Texas, about 75 percent of all businesses are small companies, and only a third of them offer insurance.

"Health care affordability and accessibility are the top priority for small-business owners year after year," said Lance Lively, legislative director for NFIB/Texas "They continue to pay an average of 18 percent more than their big-business counterparts for the same coverage."

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation report this week concluded that costs for individual insurance policies in Texas have increased 63 percent

here's the whole article:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/032509dnbushealthinsurance.681a6428.html


http://www.texaspolicy.com/policycast.php

Current Edition
The health care wedge

Last week, the Texas Public Policy Foundation released a report by internationally renowned economist Dr. Arthur Laffer, "The Prognosis for National Health Insurance." In applying an economic model to President Barack Obama's priorities for health care reform, the report concluded Obama's priorities would increase medical price inflation, slow economic growth, and still leave 30 million Americans uninsured. In the first of a two-part interview, one of the report's principal researchers, TPPF Senior Fellow Donna Arduin, explains the report's key concept - the health care wedge - and shows why the main proposals being debated in Washington, D.C. would actually make matters worse.

Link to this edition: http://www.policycast.com/texas/cast/tpc-432-arduin.mp3

[Canceled2]

exactly.....

the insurance companies have done a great job of convincing people of the evils of tort claims. in the 80's and early 90's people still believed you shoudl be punished for your wrong or you should compensate those you wronged or both.....a few juries, and i mean a very few, juries got carried away and slammed big corps with stupid amounts. this fed the media hype and then the media easily ran stories such as the famous mc'd hot coffee old lady story as an example of egregious lawsuits.....

left out of all the media hype....were the actual facts of the case....if you read the actual case and facts, the award was completely justified. but, americans as a whole tend to swallow the news as gospel.

in state after state where so called tort reform has happened, especially the med mal tort reform....studies have now shown that doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies actually are charging more now, despite lower awards in lawsuits.....

we've been hoodwinked once again by powerful lobbyists

Comprehensive Tort reform is not a magic genie. Its far reaching effects are what is ignored and what needs the light of day shone on it. Even in Texas they did not get all the reform they sought...they compromised, but even still, they saw a dramatic increase to their economy as doctors moved back, clinics opened and the people were served. This had the chain reaction of a boom to the entire service industry creating jobs etc. The whine is that Texas has not seen a decrease. No, what they have received is an increase in those willing to parctice and normal growth in costs. The lag is in the increase in wages.

[Cancel 2018. 3]

Comprehensive Tort reform is not a magic genie. Its far reaching effects are what is ignored and what needs the light of day shone on it. Even in Texas they did not get all the reform they sought...they compromised, but even still, they saw a dramatic increase to their economy as doctors moved back, clinics opened and the people were served. This had the chain reaction of a boom to the entire service industry creating jobs etc. The whine is that Texas has not seen a decrease. No, what they have received is an increase in those willing to parctice and normal growth in costs. The lag is in the increase in wages.

that did not happen as a result of so called tort reform.....no way, no how....

the baby boomers are getting older....that is why the industry is growing, tort reform is a red herring.....

[Canceled2]

that did not happen as a result of so called tort reform.....no way, no how....

the baby boomers are getting older....that is why the industry is growing, tort reform is a red herring.....

It isn't a red herring. Physicians had been exiting Texas at an unprecedented rate because it was one of the more litigious states. After Tort reform doctors began migrating back. The article I posted provided actual stats at the consequences of their leaving and the resulting growth in their return. It is not a magic genie...it is economic growth. It is a slowed pace of health cost increases to a more stable and normal increase. Other things could make health insurance affordable i.e. portability etc.

[uscitizen]

So you are saying that an extremely conservative state like TX is one of the more litigous states?

Go figure.

[Cancel5]

I like torts, what is the big deal? I prefer corn to flour for tacos, but for enchiladas, I like flour!

[belme1201]

http://www.texaspolicy.com/policycast.php

Current Edition
The health care wedge

Last week, the Texas Public Policy Foundation released a report by internationally renowned economist Dr. Arthur Laffer, "The Prognosis for National Health Insurance." In applying an economic model to President Barack Obama's priorities for health care reform, the report concluded Obama's priorities would increase medical price inflation, slow economic growth, and still leave 30 million Americans uninsured. In the first of a two-part interview, one of the report's principal researchers, TPPF Senior Fellow Donna Arduin, explains the report's key concept - the health care wedge - and shows why the main proposals being debated in Washington, D.C. would actually make matters worse.

Link to this edition: http://www.policycast.com/texas/cast/tpc-432-arduin.mp3

By God, Arthur Laffer, the father of Supply Side Economics, the greatest destroyer of the Middle Class in the history of the country. First Rick Perry, then Laffer, how about bringing in Phil Gramm and it'll be a hat trick!

[ib1yysguy]

By God, Arthur Laffer, the father of Supply Side Economics, the greatest destroyer of the Middle Class in the history of the country. First Rick Perry, then Laffer, how about bringing in Phil Gramm and it'll be a hat trick!

Argh.

[SmarterthanYou]

Man OH Man that is great!

Thanks Fish.

Integrity indeed.

Everyone should watch this vid.

we've seen it and some of us chewed our reps up pretty good. But like the rest of the country, most of texas accepts that this is the way progress is made.

[TuTu Monroe]

By God, Arthur Laffer, the father of Supply Side Economics, the greatest destroyer of the Middle Class in the history of the country. First Rick Perry, then Laffer, how about bringing in Phil Gramm and it'll be a hat trick!

By God, Laffer supported Clinton in 1992 and 1996.

[Cancel5]

By God, Laffer supported Clinton in 1992 and 1996.

Yeah, and so?

[belme1201]

By God, Laffer supported Clinton in 1992 and 1996.



Could it be that Laffer wasn't very pleased that ghw bush called Laffer's Supply Side Economics, "Voodoo" economics?