The civil tort system in our country serves two important purposes. The system (1) compensates injured victims for the harm they have suffered and (2) holds wrongdoers accountable for their actions, which gives them and all others a financial incentive to avoid carelessness. Healthcare is an area in which the civil tort system is particularly important. When healthcare providers are careless, patients can be seriously injured, or even killed.
Tort reform advocates argue that medical malpractice lawsuits, and the cost of insurance doctors carry cover these claims, are major contributors to out of control healthcare costs. Tort reform advocates typically argue for arbitrary damage caps that severely limit the damages paid to injured victims of medical error. A recent Harvard study shows that tort reform advocates are wrong. Medical malpractice lawsuits are not the cause of high healthcare costs.
According to the Harvard study, which was published in the Health Affairs Journal, the medical malpractice system only makes up 2.4% of the total amount spent on healthcare in America. This includes settlements paid to victims, malpractice insurance, and all the legal costs associated with the process.
While reforming healthcare in America is a complicated issue, including tort reform is a mistake. Tort reform will benefit only insurance companies without any significant reduction in the cost of health care. Even if you could eliminate all the costs associated with medical malpractice cases, which is impossible even with the most aggressive tort reform measures, you are barely making a dent in the overall cost of healthcare. This is certainly not the massive cost controlling tool that tort reformers claim and it comes with an incredible human cost. Many people that are seriously injured by medical errors would have their settlements or verdicts limited arbitrarily, perhaps leaving them unable to pay for their recovery.
Keep this in mind the next time you hear commercials or politicians talking about tort reform.
