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Consensus Builds Around the Need for Liability Reform as Part of Comprehensive Health Care Reform
Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times follows his paper’s lead in calling for liability reform to be part of comprehensive health care reform. He explains: “An excellent study published in 2006 in The New England Journal of Medicine found that for every dollar paid in compensation as a result of lawsuits against doctors, 54 cents goes to legal and administrative costs. That’s an absurd waste of money. Moreover, aggressive law leads to defensive medicine, in the form of extra medical tests that waste everybody’s money.” Kristof’s column appears the same week that USA Today editorializes that promising solutions to reform America’s failed medical liability system – such as specialized health courts – are being obscured by the tired debate between doctors and lawyers about capping damages.
In his blog on Atlantic.com, Common Good Chair Philip K. Howard argues that we cannot control the cost of America’s health care system – or improve its efficiency or quality – without a complete overhaul of its reimbursement, regulatory, and liability structures. He expands on this theme in his second post, writing that Washington will likely fail in its efforts to confront domestics crises – like in health care and the economy – if it does not first address “its own ‘legacy costs’ and bloated bureaucracies, which currently make it impossible to achieve new focus and efficiencies.” |
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Health Care
» A Doctor's Reflections on Health Care Reform: Encourage Healthy Habits and Reform the Malpractice System
» Former Head of the NIH: Ignoring Defensive Medicine in the Health Care Reform Debate ‘Makes No Sense at All’ » Congressman: Controlling Unnecessary Health Care Costs Starts with Implementing Comprehensive Medical Liability Reform
Society
» Survey: Most U.S. Kids Have No Playground Access
» These Products' Warnings May Overkill You
» UK: School Bans 'Dangerous' Swimming Goggles 
Education
» 700 NYC Teachers Are Paid to Do Nothing
» Editorial: Florida’s New Zero Tolerance Law Should Be Heralded as a Return of Common Sense
» School Discipline Rules Tie Hands of Teachers  |
Common Good Partners Outline the Role of Medical Liability Reform in the Greater Health Care Reform Debate
Common Good partners Michelle Mello of the Harvard School of Public Health and Dr. Troy Brennan outline in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine three reasons why a health care reform package might ultimately include medical liability reform, and three versions – including health courts – of what that medical liability reform might look like.
Life Without Lawyers Book Party at the U.S. Capitol
On June 4th, Senator Mike Enzi, Representative Jim Cooper, and former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue hosted a book party in the Lyndon B. Johnson Room of the U.S. Capitol for Common Good Chair Philip K. Howard and his latest work, Life Without Lawyers. Among those also in attendance were Senator Lamar Alexander, Congressmen Steve Cohen and Peter Welch, and former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson. Life Without Lawyers Reviewed in Forbes
In her review of Life Without Lawyers for Forbes, Lily-Hayes Kaufman writes that Philip K. Howard “aims to restore responsibility and reliability to the American legal system for the betterment of society.” She continues: “He doesn't just critique the modern legal system in America, he also offers a framework for improvement. … It is not literally a ‘life without lawyers’ that [he] wishes for America, but rather a life in which lawyers practice a reformed law that is rebalanced to focus on promoting growth and progress for the betterment of society.” |
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 Philip K. Howard discusses his latest book, Life Without Lawyers, at the American Enterprise Institute, with commentary provided by Dick Thornburgh, Jeffrey Rosen, and Judge Stephen F. Williams. » watch
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