wmed.com Blog

Health Care Reform Bill is a “Trial Lawyer’s Dream”

Administrator — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:51:15 +0000

The health care reform bill is a “trial lawyer’s dream” according to Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) President Robert P. Hartwig speaking at the National Underwriter/Ernst & Young 21st Annual Executive Conference for the Property and Casualty Industry.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that $54 billion can be saved by implementing medical malpractice tort reform, but the authors of the bill left out any such reforms. This figure does not include the huge cost of practicing defensive medicine generated by the demands of the current tort system.

Trial lawyers are protected by Section 2531 of H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act. This empowers the Secretary of Health and Human Services to pay states that enact laws to hold down the cost of medical malpractice but “a state is not eligible for the incentive payments if that state puts a law on the books that limits attorneys’ fees or imposes caps on damages.”

The impact of tort reform can be dramatic. After Texas capped pain and suffering damages at $750,000 in 2003, the number of malpractice lawsuits dropped abruptly. Lawsuits in Harris County (Houston and environs) plunged by 50 percent. In California, pain and suffering damages cannot exceed $250,000. Attorneys may collect no more than 15 percent of malpractice awards over $600,000.

Mr. Hartwig stated that the authors of the current health care legislation are insuring that “this is an era of no tort reform.”

Link: http://www.property-casualty.com/News/2009/11/Pages/Health-Care-Bill-Trial-Lawyers-Dream-Says-Hartwig.aspx

Health Care Reform is Almost Here!

Administrator — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:37:51 +0000

This is a summary of what the government has created for us. The House bill is 1,990 pages or about 400,000 words. That’s $2.24 million per word for the estimated 10-year cost of $894 billon.

For comparison:

Declaration of Independence in 1776: One page
United States Constitution in 1787: 4 pages
Emancipation Proclamation of 1863: 5 pages
Social Security Act of 1935: 64 pages
Civil Rights Act of 1964: 8 pages
War and Peace: 1,296 pages
King James Version of the Bible: 1,024 pages
Torah 80,000 words on a scroll

The health care bill is written in extreme legalize that most people cannot understand. Here is an example paragraph.

“(a) Outpatient Hospitals – (1) In General – Section 1833(t)(3)(C)(iv) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395(t)(3)(C)(iv)) is amended – (A) in the first sentence – (i) by inserting “(which is subject to the productivity adjustment described in subclause (II) of such section)” after “1886(b)(3)(B)(iii); and (ii) by inserting “(but not below 0)” after “reduced”; and (B) in the second sentence, by inserting “and which is subject, beginning with 2010 to the productivity adjustment described in section 1886(b)(3)(B)(iii)(II)”.

In more simple terms: “This section is described as dealing with incorporating productivity improvements into market basket updates that do not already incorporate such improvements.”

Now do you understand it?

The bill will be passed with the majority of legislators never having read it.

If you want to try here is the link:

http://health.burgess.house.gov/UploadedFiles/House_HCR_bill.pdf

It is not clear how many people will actually benefit from this program. It is clear that billions of dollars will be spent, not on health care, but on the large government agency and the legal cost to interpret and apply this very complex legislation.

H1N1 – What’s In A Name?

Administrator — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:27:48 +0000

The current flu pandemic is caused by a virus from the Influenza A family and further identified as H1N1. Influenza A is a specific genetic type of virus found in birds, swine, and humans. It is the most common cause of flu in humans.

There are two specific chemical compounds found on the surface of the influenza virus. The first compound “Hemagglutinin” locks the virus to the cell surface so that the virus can enter the cell and cause infection. The second compound “Neuraminidase” helps release the virus from a previously infected cell so that the virus can spread. There are 16 known types of hemagglutinin and 9 known types of neuraminidase. These number types are used to subclassify the flu virus such as H1N1. Drugs that inhibit neuraminidase are used to treat influenza.

The severe flu pandemic of 1918 was of type H1N1. The current flu virus appears to lack the virulent features that produced an over reaction of the immune system causing widespread illness and death.