The Conservative Cave
Current Events => The DUmpster => Topic started by: franksolich on October 08, 2009, 10:18:29 AM
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http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6725874
Oh my.
Blue State Blues (307 posts) Thu Oct-08-09 10:52 AM
Original message
Hey Doctors, Let's Make a Deal
Let me be clear, I respect you. I know you work hard. You have to churn through patients every 15 minutes to pay the rent and the billing staff and people to help you to keep track of the approved procedures and approved prescriptions for each insurance plan you have a contract with, and to pay huge premiums for malpractice insurance.
And maybe it's because you can see the system isn't working any better for you than it is for your patients that 70 percent of you support some form of public option (and 10 percent of you support single payer). I applaud you, at least 70 percent of you (and 10 percent of you with enthusiasm).
But here's the thing, what I keep hearing is that you need tort reform to bring down costs. That the key to reducing healthcare costs in this country is to limit the amount of money that can be awarded to someone who has proven in a court of law that they have been harmed by malpractice. And that's where I can't agree.
I mean sure, I hate lawyers, you hate lawyers, everybody hates lawyers -- ambulance chasers, vultures, whatever we want to call them. It's an acceptable prejudice. It's a historic prejudice -- even Shakespeare hated lawyers -- and it's a prejudice we don't feel guilty about, right?
But why would we hate victims? It just seems wrong to limit the right of someone who has been hurt to seek justice through the court system.
But I also can't agree, because I don't believe that the occasional award to someone who now has a malpractice-caused pre-exising condition, someone who has lost a limb or a loved one because of gross negligence ... I don't believe that really is why your malpractice insurance premiums are so high.
According to this article, medical malpractice insurance companies have higher profits than nearly all other companies and are even more profitable and less accountable than for-profit health insurance companies.
And according to this article, after Texas capped malpractice awards, malpractice insurance premiums did not go down.
I think your problem is the same as my problem. You're being gouged by for-profit malpractice insurance companies, just like I'm being gouged by for-profit health insurance companies.
So here's my idea. What if we help each other? What if any doctor who accepts patients from the Public Option would qualify for a non-profit malpractice insurance system?
Win-win. You help me escape the corporations that are gouging me, I'll help you escape the corporations that are gouging you, and we all get a system that works better.
And as for those doctors who don't merely make an understandable mistake, the ones who are grossly negligent and missed the class that taught, "first, do no harm," let's encourage them to pursue other careers, such as politics, perhaps (not naming any names).
So what do you say?
New bonfire, only one primitive at it thus far. I'll check it later today.
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70% support a public option? What world is this DUmmie living on?
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70% support a public option? What world is this DUmmie living on?
The one where they only hear and see what they want and the rest is a conspiricy against them of some kind.
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70% support a public option? What world is this DUmmie living on?
A world that does not require actual facts. They can just pull any number they want out of thin air, and the other DUmmies lap it up.
And DUmmies, at what point do you start distinguishing between "victim" and "extortionist". When families sue for millions over honest mistakes, is that really ensuring justice?
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70% support a public option? What world is this DUmmie living on?
Oh man, the primitives cite all sorts of "polls" showing all sorts of numbers in favor of socialized medicine.
60%, 75%, 90%, 99%, and somesuch.
I dunno where the primitives get the polls and the numbers, unless it's off that paper one uses after sitting on the can.
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Oh man, the primitives cite all sorts of "polls" showing all sorts of numbers in favor of socialized medicine.
60%, 75%, 90%, 99%, and somesuch.
I dunno where the primitives get the polls and the numbers, unless it's off that paper one uses after sitting on the can.
Some people read tea leaves, some read ...uh....stains.
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70% support a public option? What world is this DUmmie living on?
That would be bongworld. It's in the LSD galaxy.
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So here's my idea. What if we help each other? What if any doctor who accepts patients from the Public Option would qualify for a non-profit malpractice insurance system?
A better idea yet would just be the public option for malpractice insurance, without the PO for health insurance. If the government is providing the malpractice insurance, then we'll sure as hell see a cap on jury awards for malpractice.
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What a pant load.
The IBD poll of doctors showed that 45% of them would either quit, retire early, or dramatically decrease their practice if Obama hellcare is implemented.
Reality meets Duchebag made up numbers.
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What a pant load.
The IBD poll of doctors showed that 45% of them would either quit, retire early, or dramatically decrease their practice if Obama hellcare is implemented.
Reality meets Duchebag made up numbers.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1218927/Plumber-shattered-arm-left-horrifically-bent-shape-operation-cancelled-times.html
AMAZING