Does Medical Liability Tort Reform Work?
Medical liability tort reform is an ever-present issue that is often at the heart of any serious health care reform debate. Both sides have compelling arguments. Health care providers are often shackled by fears of frivolous malpractice suits leading to costly and, often, unnecessary defensive care. Patients and legal professionals, however, argue that without some form of legal recourse, physician misfeasance would go unchecked. To really understand the issue of medical liability tort reform, one must look a little deeper into the structure of American health care. In our system, the vast majority of practicing physicians have malpractice insurance which pays some or all of the judgment for a malpractice claim. In 2015, the U.S. paid out $3.89 billion for malpractice claims, almost all of which came from insurers. This is…