He might also want to re-think the results out of Texas, where victims have repeatedly been screwed, and where costs weren't reduced anyway.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin's (D-Ill.) remarks on this yesterday were pretty devastating. I hope McCain will examine it.

Bwa-ha-ha -- McCain, examine something. That's bloody likely.

Otherwise, great post.

I examined Durbin's remarks thanks to the clip that Steve kindly made available. I actually WANT to be informed on the subject (my ability to retain what I learn notwithstanding). The contrast between the Rethug babble and Durbin's point is telling.

suh-WOOSH!!
I was listening to All Things Considered yesterday, and the ONLY commenter/attendee from the summit was Some Republican (sorry, no prize for guessing what he said.)
I was thinking, "why don't they ever talk to Durbin? Or does NPR have back-bench-Gopers-only policy?

And thanks for bringing up California in the Malpractice Wars! The one constant driving up premiums is a falling stock market, not jury awards.

As a Texan I can personally inform McCain that this state shouldn't be a role model for anything, especially malpractice reform

"Tort Reform" is the 21st C. Republican version of Reagan's "Welfare Cadillac ".

Both are based on class/race warfare, and when examined are largely specious.

I looked into the same type of caps McCain mention that were implemented in Illinois. Here was the take away:

Even with caps, doctors' malpractice insurance premiums never went down. Some docs pay up to 1/3 of their incomes for malpractice insurance.

But the insurance companies reaped the benefits of caps because they still took in the same amount of money but paid out much less.

If there is a cap, people will not file suit but rather just settle out of court for the cap amount. The problem with that is then all the information about the malpractice that allegedly occurred - becomes proprietary information of the insurance company and the public has no awareness of the potential dangerous doctor or hospital.

and to top it off -- Caps don't prevent malpractice. They in no way deter sloppy work by the medical field. In fact, caps provide a green light for shoddy work.

But I do think that the one change that would be best is to have "medical courts" where the judge was much more informed on medical issues. It is a totally different world. People think that everything is absolute and I can tell you first hand, it's close but it is not perfect. Lay people tend to hold medical professionals as perfect and the truth is that we are human first.

Republicans make an issue over tort reform because they know that it is difficult for Democrats to (1) limit victim's rights and (2) curtail the practice of law. It's easy for Republicans to exploit examples of outrageous court settlements to produce the same emotional reaction as terms like "welfare queens" and "ambulance chasers." Tort reform is a distraction, an oversimplification, of the healthcare problem that no Republican really wants to address. Sen. Dick Durbin, in my opinion the best thing to come out of IL politics, put it in perspective and showed how hollow an argument tort reform really is. Once again, he showed elitist Republicans' shallow understanding of the healthcare debate and exposed their enthusiasm for conjuring up distractions rather than making any serious efforts to address the problems of quality, affordable, accessible healthcare for average Americans.

HEALTH CARE SUMMIT

Republicans and Democrats met yesterday at Blair House and discussed health care reform for over 7 hours. I watched most of it, which I guess shows that I have no life. All those hours of politicians with their talking points - but it was surprisingly interesting.

Republicans were respectful in their opposition to the health care reform bill even though their main point was the Congress should start over- from scratch after almost a year of legislative work. Then, they also asked that the Democrats forswear the use a majority vote to pass the bill. This strategy seems like the Bush diplomacy tactic of demanding that the other country give up its positions before we'll negotiate with it.

Again and again, the Republicans said that the American people oppose this huge bill. Some polls do show this, but, no wonder, after Republicans and Teabaggers havemisled the public, with talkof government takeover and death panels.

The Democrats were moderate in defending the proposed bills, with many pointing out that the legislation includes many provisions that Republicans had favored. President Obama presided, sometimes conceding value in a Republican point, sometimes explaining part of the bill and its rationale, sometimes correcting Republican misstatements. At all times, he demonstrated command of the issues and command of the room.

The meeting was a positive event and somehat instructive. No significant positions were changed; the Republicans really offered nothin to cover most of the uninsured and rally want just to kill the bill. The Democrats showed no inclination to include the logical and clearly popular public option, but seemed resolved to get this job done.

Interestingly, after months of Republicans complaints that Obama did not live up to his campaign promise of transparent negotiations broadcast by C-Span, this event was not covered by C-Span.

homer www.altara.blogspot.com

They bring it up because it pisses off the plaintiffs' bar, which overwhelmingly supports dems. Don't confuse them with the facts; they don't care.

More Durbin please.
Totally dominating...

Even Obama's listening posture perked up.

Majority Leader Durbin has a nice sound to it.

Sure, what *they* call malpractice "reform" would stink. But that doesn't mean things are just fine with that as is. The latter see-saw presumption is a common fallacy. We should ID some changes that are worth doing, hold that up, and can brag that we support reform too. That takes ownership of the idea from them without the ruination of how they'd work it. The same sort of "trick" should be used more often.

One other point about tort reform in Texas: Since the state passed its tort reform laws, the number of complaints about doctors filed with the Texas Medical Board has jumped dramatically. See, for example:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-MedicalBoard_26bus.ART0.State.Edition1.4a7dbdb.html

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/doctors-87579-meetings-texas.html.

State enforcement statistics are at:
http://www.tmb.state.tx.us/agency/statistics/enforce/enforce.php.

They appear to have dropped slightly in 2009, but overall the trend is clear.

To get an attorneys attention, your case has to be the sort that can be settled, not taken to trial. S/He can ascertain that within a few minutes of understanding your case if they want to fool with it. If your case is legit, hope that they can make sufficient money on your case to represent you. Since the hard $ limits aren't indexed to real world conditions, inflation was supposed to relegate these limits meaningless at some point. But current day money changes decimated the playing field.

For those special cases reserved for the most egregious errors, you have to be in a particular income strata to advance your case. For the rest, you are harmed twice or never should of gotten yourself into the medical system in the first place.

McCain shouldn't be in front of a microphone, he should be on the talk show circuit. Oh wait,

Damn those Democrats, with their "knowing stuff" and "personal experience" and "facts" and things! They are so arrogant, with their "I know what I'm talking about so you should listen to me" blah-blah-blah. So annoying.

It makes being a Senator so much less fun when every time you open your mouth, some Democrat is there to tell you exactly why you are full of it. Sheesh. No wonder nobody invites Durbin to the cocktail parties.

Oh yes president McCain, by all means let's pattern national healthcare after the abject failure that is Texas.

Texas climbed out of the bottom 10 states in 2009, earning the #39 slot in the ranking of the healthiest states by the United Health Foundation.

The state's best and worst category rankings:

Infectious disease - 44
Children in poverty - 43
Lack of health insurance - 50
Public health funding - 43
Immunization coverage - 17
Primary care physicians - 42
Poor mental health days - 19
Geographic disparity - 41
Cancer deaths - 16

That old geezer really needs to go away.

doubtful, i would be much more excited about Majority Leader Durbin had he not made a literally tearful apology for hurting the Republicans' feelings. sets my "too wimpy to stand up to Republicans" meter off in a big way. of course, progressives have largely two imperfect choices: Durbin, good on the issues but of questionable fortitude; Schumer, good on some issues but in the pocket of Wall Street on many other issues and likely the best spine among our plausible options.

coral -
But I do think that the one change that would be best is to have "medical courts" where the judge was much more informed on medical issues.

The problem is that many, many others with legal issues would like the same thing, which quickly becomes impractical. I work in some very technical utilities, IT and IP stuff that the courts rarely hear, so when we are in court on those issues, it always seems troubling that there is not a good knowledge base there. My guess is that many industries and issues that are not the court's usual fare - a lot of sciences in particular - share the concern. Why would just the medical field (which the courts actually have a better feel for both from more cases and from personal exposure) get that benefit?

McCain made a big deal about the special deal Florida got for its Medicare Advantage customers. The reason, of course, that such deals had to be cut is that no Republican votes were forthcoming, so that Democratic Senators could engage in such extortion.

Ok let's pretend for the sake of argument that malpractice reform leads to signficant cost savings. Doesnt the fact that the two most populous states have already enacted that reform mean that further savings on a national level will be severely limited?

Yea for Durbin. Common knowledge is irrefutable.

I'm surprised though, didn't anybody mention Jesus (my personal savior!) anywhere in these proceedings? Isn't the Republican health care plan called Jesuscare or something? I so look forward to when my government officials call out our lordy-gourdy!
Praise Jebus, because he can really take care of business, yes sir!
I got a dobosh torte (reform) for Christmas from the Swiss colony! It was delicious..

This Texan doesn't know a soul whose Health Cares costs have gone down a cent. And California, didn't BC & BS just announce massive rate hikes, how can that be ??

McCain came across so very poorly, reminding me of clinical cases as noted in the DSM-IV.
Jealous, narcissitic, unrealistic, combative, unable to face the reality that he lost the election, smug tone, and his clearly memorized talking points anyone could hear on, say, Fox--
McCain did not get the best of Obama.
In fact, when Obama reminded McCain he did not win the election, McCain's response of
"I'm reminded of it every day," revealed more than yellowed teeth and a psychotic type of smile--
it said all there was to say: McCain cannot move past the loss.
All of his remaining thought processes are entangled with envy of Obama, self-deprecating thoughts of the folly of selecting the ridiculous Sarah Palin as his running mate, his ever-advancing years, and that young, handsome, prepared, highly educated and articulate president ruling the roost.

Isn't the Republican health care plan called Jesuscare or something?
Thanks to The Onion, we have the bumpersticker: "Jesus is my health insurance". Some of our Christianist neighbors actually admire our faith.

Can someone tell me why this guy isn't the Senate Leader? Dems need to enforce their own malpractice law and get rid of Reid.

That was awesome.

The reason John McCain didn't use Arizona as an example is because under the AZ State Constitution, caps on damages are forbidden. Further, Republicans tried to change the Constitution in 1986, 1990, and 1994, but Arizona voters rejected removing the ban on malpractice caps.

I know that yesterday the Republicans were big on citing "polls" as reasons not to do something. Arizona voters have been "polled" at the ballot box 3 times whether they want Republican-style tort reform, and they have said no each time (and FWIW Wyoming's Republican-heavy voters rejected tort reform in 2006).

Why does John McCain favor a federal mandate to override "states rights" vis a vis the AZ State Constitution that is also unpopular in his own state?

Senator Durbin was right on the money. The Dems need to be saying this at every opportunity. Forcefully, but eloquently. It really is going to take a concerted effort across the board for the Dems to hammer home the points that Durbin made here (in that the media is so skewed towards the right). I wish I had faith that the Dems actually had the guts to do it.

As for McCain, his little rant about being reminded every day that the election was over underscored just how bitter, spoiled, and entitlement-minded he is.

It's interesting that one successful experiment in reducing malpractice costs never gets mentioned. The University of Michigan Hospitals decided that rather than lawyer up and hunker down when malpractice problems arose, they decided to have the victims, or next of kin, meet with the implicated medical personnel, apologize, explain what happened and what the hospitals were doing to correct the problem.

According to Richard Boothman, the chief risk officer, the results were, cited by the AP, malpractice suits went from 121 in 2001 to 61 in 2006 and "costs per claim were halved and insurance reserves dropped by two-thirds."

And as Kevin pointed out, the increase in medical complaints in Texas suggest that malpractice reform has made it a magnet for the corrupt and incompetent.

In fact, when Obama reminded McCain he did not win the election, McCain's response of
"I'm reminded of it every day," revealed more than yellowed teeth and a psychotic type of smile--

Thanks, the coffee spray was worth it.

Even better was Obama's utter dismissal of McCain.

John, the campaign is over tell Joe "the Plumber" to go home and stop patting Levi Johnson on the back.

Good on you, Sen. Durbin. After watching his performance, I just sat there amazed. It was a class act and an example for everyone.

ATXDem - I second your motion

AndrewBW brings up some points that need attention. There seems to be an invasion of quacks from out of state who were fleeing the results of their incompetence.

ckelly punches a big hole in McCain's position and also isn't doing our dear Gov. Goodhair any favors by listing the failures of his administration.