Medical malpractice costs and limits on redress (tort)

Critics have argued that medical malpractice costs are significant and should be addressed via tort reform.

"Tort reform," the Bush administration's answer to the problem of high medical malpractice costs, makes sense from only one aspect: the political.

Lawyers and doctors are straining to be heard as the State Legislature considers possible solutions to soaring malpractice costs.

Limits on malpractice costs can address part of the problem, however.

While malpractice costs are significantly higher in the U.S., they make up only a small proportion of total medical spending.

As a physician, I know that the claim that escalating malpractice costs contribute significantly to the increased cost of care is an exaggeration.

There would be $113 billion in administrative savings, $114 billion through the reduced use of medical technology and the elimination of malpractice costs, waste and unnecessary care.

In addition, obstetricians facing skyrocketing malpractice costs and lawsuits when a delivery went awry, increasingly began practicing defensive medicine.

The Governor would also take $350 million from a state fund set aside to help doctors defray medical malpractice costs and use it to close the budget gap.