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My personal musings about anything that gets on my radar screen--heavily dominated by politics.

2008-03-01

One More Democratic Payoff 

[hat tip Colorado Senate News]

A Democrat bid to raise the stakes in lawsuits against physicians squeaked through the Senate today by one vote despite objections from Republicans--and even a dissenting Democrat--that it would drive up health care costs and drive docs out of rural Colorado.

Republicans are calling Senate Bill 164 "payback" to the trial-lawyers lobby, a key Democrat ally, because it hikes statutory caps on lawsuits to the benefit of lawyers--at doctors' expense. Doctors credit the caps under the current law with reining in their liability insurance rates so they can afford to continue practicing medicine.

Shawn Mitchell (R) estimated in debate that this bill would quadruple the damages plaintiffs could recover from doctors.

Brilliant.

But it begs the question: if (when) the Democrats slam through some version of single-payer in Colorado over the next couple years, what's going to happen to all the doctors/ liabilities? Will the single-payer program have caps on damages, as it also has caps on fees and salaries?

If it doesn't, then the Dems are managing to destroy our health care system much faster. Look at it from the doc's perspective: higher liabilities, which means higher insurance, while being dependent on an inefficient government body for payment, which also limts the amount of payments possible. Wonder how hard it is to transfer a medical license to Wyoming?

And if it does cap damages, then clearly this is nothing more than a Democrat attempt to get a little something to their primary constituency--the trial lawyers--under the wire.

Now taking over/under bets on the amount of time its going to take Colorado to recognize what a FUBAR the Democrats are making of health care. Current line is 4 years.
Posted by: Michael / 3/01/2008 08:50:00 AM

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