In my last post, I noted that malpractice reform enacted in Texas in 2003 making it almost impossible to sue physicians failed to save money or decrease defensive medical testing. We now have ER data from South Carolina and Georgia demonstrating the same thing. Doctors in those states continued ordering tests up the yin-yang despite legislation substantially reducing the likelihood of a lawsuit. Why? Continue reading →

Responding to a 2009 request from Senator Orrin Hatch (R, Utah), the Congressional Budget Office issued a letter suggesting that medical malpractice tort reform would “reduce federal budget deficits by roughly $54 billion over the next 10 years.” Sounds great—a billion here, a billion there and pretty soon you’re talking real money—but the devil is in the details. The CBO letter reported that 40% of the savings would come in the form of lower malpractice premiums to physicians and 60% from “less utilization of health care services.” Continue reading →