I think that too much blame is being placed on the lawyers and court rooms. This is how a lawyer makes his living. If all malpractice lawsuits were stopped, it wouldn't help these poor and low-income people afford health insurance. The insurance companies are just as much the blame as lawyers are. Without any lawsuits, the insurance companies would still raise their rates. Somebody is always trying to put the blame on somebody else. Overall, I don't think his plan would work. I'm not sure 'what', but I believe another plan will have to be proposed.
Posts: 6667 | Location: Land of Lincoln, USA | Registered: 07-04-02
I don't think that lawsuits and lawyers are the only reason for our problems, but I think that they are a huge reason for them.
If Lawyers didn't seek out "the easy money" so much, physicians and some nurses wouldn't have to pay such huge premiums for insurance coverage to practice.
I can't remember how many times I've seen this one advertisement where the Lawyer-type dude is saying "Does your child have Cerebral Palsy? Did he get CP as a result of negligence? [let us help you really paste it to those suckers and squeeze out as much cash as we can so that you can get a nominal settlement while we get the majority of the cash award]"
When Doctors have to pay half of their ENTIRE earnings to pay for their mal-practice insurance, that is saying something.
Posts: 9086 | Location: PA, USA | Registered: 06-05-02
What's really sad is when Doctors & other medical personnel have never filed a claim on their malpractice insurance, yet how are they rewarded??? Their premiums go up any way!!!
So just how much money does a plaintiff net for compensation???
I don't know if the President's plan will work however he is addressing the issue and getting some attention on it. It will be a while before anything becomes of it though. After all on issues like this, it will take time for Congress to digest it & come up with their own ideas & proposals.
Posts: 2277 | Location: Martinsville, IL | Registered: 06-03-02
The most important vehicle that insurance companies use to keep the money coming in is thru investments. They own huge blocks and in this dismal economy, they like you, are not getting the bang for their buck like they did in the 90's. So guess who they go to for this loss of revenue? And so our premiums continue to rise. Not saying that some frivilous lawsuits (and some states that seem to encourage them) are not a contributing factor. Getting the economy back on track, being mindful of our current national debt and looking for ways to save money--- not spend money--- seems like the logical fix.
Posts: 5569 | Location: south of Cincy | Registered: 07-12-02
It's a shame that malpractice insurance is skyrocketing, but that's not the only thing that going up. Seem like everything, is going up. Malpractice insurance, (just like everything else) would increase without lawsuits. I understand that some lawsuits are not warranted, but lawsuits are not the full blame, like President Bush is trying to make believe. I wish someone would speak out against all these other costs, that's rising, like power bills, food bills, water bills, garbage bills, etc. But, of course, these are the poor people struggles, not the rich.
Posts: 6667 | Location: Land of Lincoln, USA | Registered: 07-04-02
