If Congress is looking to lower the costs of potential health care reform, the Congressional Budget Office just offered another $41 billion solution.
That’s how much the deficit would be reduced over 10 years by a “typical” tort reform package like ones that have been debated but not passed in Congress for years. That savings would equal about 50 percent of the deficit reduction that would be brought about by the entire Senate Finance Committee bill. The whole bill. So any reform of lawsuit award laws would cut another $4 billion a year off the deficit.
CBO estimates typical lawsuit reform would reduce total U.S. health care spending by about $11 billion in 2009, or about 0.5 percent. About half of the savings would come from lower medical liability insurance premiums and half would come from reductions in so called “defensive medicine,” or extra tests doctors do to avoid lawsuits.
Tort reform sounds like a good value for the amount of money it will save in this potentially high-cost effort to provide needed health care for every American.
Of course, the Trial Lawyers Association has poured a lot of money into lobbying, and into Obama’s campaign. In fact, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, lawyers and law firms were the largest contributor to Obama’s campaign, giving him $43 million.
And they seem to paint any proposal for tort reform with very emotional-laden arguments, claiming those hurt by big business or industry or medicine will be left without their due reward. Obama has said he is willing to do a “pilot project” on tort reform. That’s not enough when we need money to pay for this health care bill.
Typical tort reform bills debated in Congress in the past have been moderate reductions in lawyers’ ability to win huge verdicts. A bill in 2006 that didn’t pass a Senate filibuster would have capped some pain and suffering awards at $250,000 to $750,000. That did not include payments victims would get for actual loss of income and support of children. There were still no limits on economic damage awards. It also limited lawyers’ contingency fees at 15 percent.
The proposal seemed reasonable and it had the support of 48 senators, all Republicans. But 10 Senators also did not vote on the bill, including Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Joe Biden. So there is at least a suggestion of bipartisan support.
Tort reform needs to be on the table in the upcoming negotiations over health care reform. It seems like it would be the perfect issue to garner some Republican votes, at least in the Senate, where three years ago, 48 of them voted in favor of reform..
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The Free Press
Mankato, Minn.
