Obama Open to Malpractice Reform Without Being Open to Reform

There is no way the president is going to fight a massive political battle with the trial lawyers and the base of the party. This is a talking point to show how open his mind is. They may include some minor tort reform as an extra selling point, but nothing of any substantial value as this article makes clear, from the Times:

WASHINGTON — The American Medical Association has long battled Democrats who oppose protecting doctors from malpractice lawsuits. But during a private meeting at the White House last month, association officials said, they found one Democrat willing to entertain the idea: President Obama.

In closed-door talks, Mr. Obama has been making the case that reducing malpractice lawsuits — a goal of many doctors and Republicans — can help drive down health care costs, and should be considered as part of any health care overhaul, according to lawmakers of both parties, as well as A.M.A. officials.

It is a position that could hurt Mr. Obama with the left wing of his party and with trial lawyers who are major donors to Democratic campaigns. But one Democrat close to the president said Mr. Obama, who wants health legislation to have broad support, views addressing medical liability issues as a “credibility builder” — in effect, a bargaining chip that might keep doctors and, more important, Republicans, at the negotiating table.

The president is going to give a speech to the AMA today, a group that has come out against his public insurance plan. In it he will make the usual nonsense arguments that have been discredited or simply cannot be proved. In addition we expect the following:

Medical liability is an important component of the debate, but that, too, is controversial. White House officials said Mr. Obama was likely to refer to the issue in his speech to the medical association, but would not offer any specific proposal.

Mr. Obama has not endorsed capping malpractice jury awards, as did his predecessor, President George W. Bush. But as a senator, he advanced legislation aimed at reducing malpractice suits. And Dr. J. James Rohack, the incoming president of the medical association, said Mr. Obama told him at a meeting last month that he was open to offering some liability protection to doctors who follow standard guidelines for medical practice.

In a word he will over the usual vapid and inane policy statement without any details. Anyway its not like the public doesn't recognize the problem and support a cap to jury rewards, from the Kaiser foundation:

Factors Behind Rising Malpractice Insurance Costs

When asked to choose the most important reason behind rising malpractice insurance costs, it’s clear that the public sees the number of lawsuits as a bigger problem than the size of jury awards.Nearly one-third (32%) of the public say that the most important factor behind rising malpractice insurance rates is “too many lawyers filing unwarranted lawsuits”. Smaller shares say “high profits of malpractice insurers” (15%), “too many patients making unwarranted claims against doctors” (14%), and “too many doctors making mistakes” (11%) are the main factors. While most of the policy debate has focused on putting caps on jury awards, just 9% cite “too many juries making excessive awards” as the most important reason malpractice costs are rising.

Problems in the System

Furthermore, about six in ten (61%) say patients bring “too many” malpractice lawsuits against doctors, while about two in ten (18%) say patients bring the “right amount” of lawsuits against doctors. About half (49%) of the public says juries award too much money in malpractice lawsuits and three in ten (30%) say jury award amounts are “about right”.

Support for Limiting Malpractice Lawsuits

There is substantial support for policies that would limit the amount of jury awards in malpractice cases, and limit the ability to file malpractice lawsuits. More than six in ten (63%) say they would favor limits on the amount of money patients can be awarded for emotional pain and suffering. Among the 63% who support a cap on damages for pain and suffering, half favor a cap of $500,000 or a million dollars, which is higher than the $250,000 most often proposed in the policy arena.

Even more support a law that would prohibit individuals from filing malpractice lawsuit unless an independent medical specialist reviewed the claim and deemed it reasonable – 72% of the public say they would favor such a law.Most of the public believes that both damage caps and requiring independent medical review would help to reduce the overall cost of health care in the U.S. either “a lot” or “some”.

The public is not stupid, litigation is needed at times, of that there is no question, but the constant harassment of doctors is now hurting all of us leading to higher costs.