Even if you accept the study's findings at face value, it does not discount the fact that malpractice insurance and lawsuits have a significant impact on health care costs and the story you linked to concedes that.
In case you missed that point, it also noted that the vast majority of lawsuits were entirely legitimate. Tort reform is cited because of waste in the system, and yet, as demonstrated, the current system isn't all that wasteful. Your proposal for reform doesn't actually do anything but trade large, legitimate, rulings for those disabled due to medical mistakes and transfer that back into the system as these people surpass a capped amount and re-enter the health system disabled and lacking in the necessary funds to pay for treatment. In the end, the medical industry is still paying them.
In the end, it's simply unethical. As the study points out many plantiffs wait five years for a settlement to be reached, and capping that amount at the $250,000 isn't going to afford them much care given the reason they're suing in the first place.
Further, I don't see how a medical savings account is any more unworkable than tax increases and payments to current health insurance plans. Such savings accounts would permit people to carry only catastrophic coverage rather than "insurance" that covers medications and other incidental expenses.
Because it fixes nothing, because more and more people can't afford even a basic plan anymore, because more and more businesses can't afford to cover healthcare anymore, and because the American people are in no financial position to save much of anything right now. I'd like to know, exactly, where this money is supposed to come from.
Oh, and that "turf war" won't be going anywhere even with current reform proposals.
It would if both industries operated under a not-for-profit model. Let's also note you assume I support the Democrat plan. I don't. They tried to reach across the aisle when they should have steamrolled UHC over the Republicans.
Medicare currently pays about 15 cents on the dollar and Obama wants to cut that figure even further... although providers will probably have a harder time getting fair compensation with the government as their adversary.
This is a terribly lazy statement. Providers and consumers are milked to death by insurers who are making absurdly large profits. You don't think providers are losing money in dealing with private insurance companies? You don't think that inflates prices on other procedures aren't common place? You don't think providers are attempting to inflate the price of procedures because they have to cover the costs of the uninsured?
And let's also note the absurdly large bureaucracy private insurance has created. Medical coding now takes a 2 year degree, and in most hospitals an entire floor is devoted to coding and dealing with various insurance companies.
My point? If it weren't for hyper inflation of medical costs due to windfall profits, the strong arming of patients and providers, that Medicare cost might line up a bit better witht he cost of actual procedure.
