Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Debate thoughts
Watched some of the debate last night, although like any good Republican the needs of my family came first as my daughter and I studied the aftermath of World War I and nomenclature of binary ionic compunds for Chemistry. (She at first called them "Bionic" which makes a certain semantic sense.)
My thoughts? Cheney was sort of like Bentsen in the Bentsen-Quayle debates, in that he clearly outclassed the trial lawyer. Also see Hugh Hewitt for a blow-by-blow scorecard, question by question, and Powerline for their analysis.
Edwards said they had a plan for tort reform with "screening panels." Yes, that would be nice. But several states have already piloted the reforms that have come up repeatedly before Congress, passed by the House, and blocked by Tom Daschle and the democratic elite in the Senate. Note that Tom's support comes mainly from trial lawyers. What is known to work? California'a MICRA provisions, that's what. You limit non-economic awards to $250,000. That does NOT reduce someone's right to collect on real damages, but it stops the trial lawyers from inflating the bill with inflammatory acting so they can collect 35-40-50% of the total. Crazy.
By the way, MICRA and similar provisions have actually worked. California and Colorado are not in terrible shape malpractice-wise (although we are under attack here, see below.) North Carolina, on the other hand, home of John Edwards Esq., is in critical condition, especially in OB-GYN. If you or your wife are pregnant, don't travel there!
Today in my mail my malpractice insuror announced that my annual premium is going up 16.5%. This is due to "loss experience" (i.e., judgments and defense costs), legislative/judicial developments (Trial lawyers are attacking Colorado's malpractice reforms) and other smaller things. And Colorado is one of the protected states.
At the same time I got a letter from some physicians who support electing a Democrat majority in Colorado. Don't you guys get it? The Trial Lawyers are lobbying to take over. I think they may really believe that they have the right idea for improving medicine, and for some reason think that sucking 40% of the benefits out of the hands of the victim is justified. I won't be sending any money to the House Majority Project, by the way!
My thoughts? Cheney was sort of like Bentsen in the Bentsen-Quayle debates, in that he clearly outclassed the trial lawyer. Also see Hugh Hewitt for a blow-by-blow scorecard, question by question, and Powerline for their analysis.
Edwards said they had a plan for tort reform with "screening panels." Yes, that would be nice. But several states have already piloted the reforms that have come up repeatedly before Congress, passed by the House, and blocked by Tom Daschle and the democratic elite in the Senate. Note that Tom's support comes mainly from trial lawyers. What is known to work? California'a MICRA provisions, that's what. You limit non-economic awards to $250,000. That does NOT reduce someone's right to collect on real damages, but it stops the trial lawyers from inflating the bill with inflammatory acting so they can collect 35-40-50% of the total. Crazy.
By the way, MICRA and similar provisions have actually worked. California and Colorado are not in terrible shape malpractice-wise (although we are under attack here, see below.) North Carolina, on the other hand, home of John Edwards Esq., is in critical condition, especially in OB-GYN. If you or your wife are pregnant, don't travel there!
Today in my mail my malpractice insuror announced that my annual premium is going up 16.5%. This is due to "loss experience" (i.e., judgments and defense costs), legislative/judicial developments (Trial lawyers are attacking Colorado's malpractice reforms) and other smaller things. And Colorado is one of the protected states.
At the same time I got a letter from some physicians who support electing a Democrat majority in Colorado. Don't you guys get it? The Trial Lawyers are lobbying to take over. I think they may really believe that they have the right idea for improving medicine, and for some reason think that sucking 40% of the benefits out of the hands of the victim is justified. I won't be sending any money to the House Majority Project, by the way!
# posted by Unknown @ 8:25 AM 
