Has tort reform in health care come up yet?

[madville]

Has this old thing reared it's head yet? I would think the insurance companies and AMA would be pushing this again.

Just wondering how it works in countries with universal/single payer systems. Can people sue the government or their doctors for malpractice or any other damages?

Has tort reform even been mentioned in the various health care plans being proposed? Would doctors accepting a public option plan be offered an extra layer of protection against lawsuits?

Since malpractice insurance premiums and lawsuits against doctors and insurance companies are a cost passed on to consumers how are these issues addressed in the proposed health care plans? Are they even addressed?

[nxylas]

1. Don't the righties call it something like "lawsuit abuse" now?

To try and frame it in terms of those feckless poor people wasting their betters' time by suing them for every little scalpel that gets left inside a patient.

[Eric J in MN]

2. Obama briefly floated the idea when talking to Republican members of Congress.

Unions opposed that.

Later, when Obama addressed the AMA, he said that he realizes that they want tort reform, but then said he doesn't and he was booed.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/15/obama-booed-by-some-docto_n_215902.html