Sarah Palin Was Right #5: Peggy Venable on Tort Reform

In a Thursday Washington Post op-ed, Peggy Venable, the Texas director of Americans for Prosperity, says there's no need for pilot projects to test tort reform like the ones President Obama alluded to in his speech to Congress last week:

Texas enacted malpractice reform years ago. The president would benefit from a phone call to Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R).

Texas passed significant tort reform in 1995, and more reforms have been enacted since then. A 2008 study from the Perryman Group found that perhaps the most visible economic impact of the lawsuit reforms are the benefits experienced by Texans who have better access to high-quality healthcare. Doctors and hospitals are using their liability insurance savings to expand services and initiate innovative programs; those savings have allowed Texas hospitals to expand charity care by 24 percent.

The total impact of tort reforms implemented since 1995 includes gains of $112.5 billion in spending each year as well as almost 499,900 jobs in the state. The fiscal stimulus to the state from judicial reforms is almost a $2.6 billion per year increase in state revenue. In addition, these reforms are responsible for approximately 430,000 individuals having health insurance than would otherwise, and there has been an increase in the number of doctors, particularly in regions which have been facing severe shortages.

Sarah Palin had already pointed to the success of the Texas example August 21 on her Facebook Notes page:

Texas enacted caps and found that one county’s medical malpractice claims dropped 41 percent, and another study found a "55 percent decline" after reform measures were passed. That’s one step in health care reform. Limiting lawyer contingency fees, as is done under the Federal Tort Claims Act, is another step. The State of Alaska pioneered the "loser pays" rule in the United States, which deters frivolous civil law suits by making the loser partially pay the winner’s legal bills. Preventing quack doctors from giving "expert" testimony in court against real doctors is another reform.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry noted that, after his state enacted tort reform measures, the number of doctors applying to practice medicine in Texas "skyrocketed by 57 percent" and that the tort reforms "brought critical specialties to underserved areas." These are real reforms that actually improve access to health care.

[...]

There should be no health care reform without legal reform. There can be no true health care reform without legal reform.

Ms. Venable is right to cite Texas as a model of serious tort reform for the rest of the nation, but Sarah Palin had already gone there weeks ago. Again, former Governor Palin is showing the kind of leadership that we haven't seen enough of in the Republican Party, pointing to real-world examples of successful solutions to the problems the nation faces.

- JP

More bloggers standing with Sarah against Obamacare

As the Obamunist lapdog media continues to push the leftist narrative that Sarah Palin's warning about health care rationing was "debunked," the new media -- or at least that part of it that isn't in the tank for the faltering president -- is speaking out in support of her Paul Revere ride on Facebook:

The Provocateur:

"As for Palin, it's now clear she is going to continue to contribute to the health care debate. She appears to want to use Facebook. Contributing substantively to the national debate of the day is the best way for Palin to make her presence felt on the national stage and that's exactly what she's doing."

Stepping Right Up:

"Hey, Sarah...you are right. Obama does believe that he has a right to join with God and make decisions over people's life and death. But,but,but...there are no death panels, right, Mr. President?"

AmSpecBlog:

"Now, you can be for this or against this, but it is disingenuous to argue that Palin was completely wrong in warning about this cost-based rationing. What kind of democratic process is it that asks the American people to accept this approach, while pretending this is not what the administration is trying to do?"

Eye of Polyphemus:

"If Palin was mistaken in referring to this innocuous panel as a death panel instead of, say an advisory board on selecting the most effective treatment option, answer these three questions:

1. Why was this provision never publicized?
2. Why was it removed in such a hurry?
3. Why does John McCain sound so defensive the provision ever existed?

The answers add up to a lot of nasty things being hidden in the ObamaCare bill."

The Reaganite Republican:

"I 'm sure a huge fan of Charles Krauthammer's column, haven't missed it in years- but I sure would like to have a better grasp of what his real issue with Sarah Palin is- as well as why he's so blind to the deft political skills she's put on display so impressively this week."

Patrick S. Adams: 

"Ronald Reagan must be looking down from Heaven with a smile holding the LP record he recorded in early 1961 on Socialized Medicine. That was the first time the "death panel maneuver" was used to circumvent the press and go directly to the people on the issue of health care reform. Sarah Palin knows Ronald Reagan. She carries his presence and his philosophy in her servant's heart. And the liberals hate it."

- JP

More reaction to Sarah Palin's op-ed on tort reform

We covered the first round here. Now for Round Two...

Atlas Shrugs:

"Sarah Palin has just hit on the one issue Obama and his death cult do not want to discuss, and that is tort reform - out of control lawsuits, sky high malpractice insurance, and doctors running more tests than needed just to cover their tails, are all part of the single largest expense in American health care that can easily be remedied."

The Lonely Conservative:

"Sarah Palin must have the most popular Facebook page in America. She’s putting it to good use."

The Crabby Constituent:

"You cannot tell me that this Conservative woman from Alaska is not a threat or a superstar."

Exposing Liberal Lies:

"How the liberals hate this plain-spoken woman who makes so much sense."

American Thinker Blog:

"Fresh from spurring a discussion of end of life issues with her mention of death panels under Obamacare in Facebook, former Governor Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) is at it again."

The Underground Conservative:

"Sarah Palin represents a major threat to elitists of all stripes in the United States in much the same manner that Ronald Reagan did. She has a way of connecting with ordinary, average Americans that few politicians are able to do, and really no one has been able to do since, well, Ronaldus Magnus."

Washington Times:

"When Bob Beckel, uber-Democrat and manager of Walter Mondale's 1984 presidential campaign, agrees on something with outspoken conservative Sarah Palin, last year's Republican nominee for vice president, it's time to take notice."

[...]

"Mrs. Palin and Mr. Beckel agree that health care reform can't move forward unless lawyers have their sails trimmed a bit. They are right."

To borrow a euphemism doctors are fond of using in place of the word "pain" -- that last quote should make Democrats experience some "discomfort."

- JP

For Rick Perry, Sarah Palin is "the face of America"

Texas Governor Rick Perry, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, had more high praise for his former RGA colleague Sarah Palin. In a earlier telephone discussion with Politics Daily's Matt Lewis in June, Perry had said of Palin's endorsement of him:

"If there's a bigger endorsement in the Republican universe, I don't know who it is than Sarah," he declared in a telephone interview over the weekend. He described the Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential nominee as a "close personal friend" who knows my heart."

In this latest interview, conducted Friday in Austin, Perry's enthusiasm hasn't waned a bit. He told the WSJ:

"I love Sarah Palin, I love her positions, I think she was a good governor... I want her to be engaged in this rebuilding of the Republican Party... She is substantially more the face of this country than some other people who might want to be the face of the Republican Party. To me she's the face of America. I mean she's a hard worker, she didn't come from money, she didn't come from privilege, she just worked hard... I have not seen another person who invigorated the Republican base [like she did] with the possible exception of Ronald Reagan in 1976—the speech he made at the Republican Convention. People were looking around and saying, 'we nominated the wrong dude.'"

In her Facebook op-ed Friday, Sarah Palin cited Texas as an example of how tort reform can make health care more readily available to more people:

"Texas Gov. Rick Perry noted that, after his state enacted tort reform measures, the number of doctors applying to practice medicine in Texas 'skyrocketed by 57 percent' and that the tort reforms 'brought critical specialties to under-served areas.' These are real reforms that actually improve access to health care."

According to the WSJ, Texas' tort reforms have also been an economic boom for the Lone Star State:

Six years ago, Mr. Perry's state underwent a critical tort reform that was codified in the state constitution. The payoff is that Texas is now outpacing California economically. According to the Texas Public Policy Foundation, between 1997 and 2006 Texas' economy grew an average of 4.3% while California's grew at a rate of 3.7%. But as of 2002 (to 2007), with tort reform in place, Texas' annual economic growth jumped to 5%, while California's remained essentially the same at 3.6%.

Any chance of seeing a Palin-Perry presidential ticket in the future? Not according to the governor:

"Unless my family is at gunpoint, I will not go to Washington, D.C."

Perry, who faces a challenge from Texas Sen. Kay Baily Hutchison in his bid for an unprecedented third term in the governor's mansion, says the battle for the soul of the Republican Party is between...

"mushy, middle of the road" Republicans and clear, devoted fiscal and social conservatives, like himself and Sarah Palin.

Part of Perry's strategy for reelection is to define Hutchison as one of the former. For her part, the Senator seems to be working hard at saying, "Hey, I'm a conservative too." Anyway, that's how it looks from our vantage point here in the Brazos River Valley.

- JP

Reaction to Sarah Palin's op-ed on tort reform

Reaction is coming in to Sarah Palin's latest Facebook op-ed:

Flopping Aces:

"She is driving the debate from Facebook..."

RedState:

"She goes for the jugular with this one."

Hot Air:

"Palin winningly refers to the deluge of frivolous legal actions against her as an example of a tort system run amuck..."

Real Clear Politics:

"She cites research that claims tort reform could result in $200 billion a year in savings."

The Travis Monitor:

"Sarah Palin lays down the challenge."

The Daily Instigator:

"Sarah Palin continues to be the most sensible voice in the Republican Party."

Be John Galt:

"She highlights the deceit of trying to use the cost of health care as a reason for socialized medicine as she hits the heart of Democrat hypocrisy."

Hillbuzz:

"Sarah Palin is almost single-handedly bringing down Obamacare using only Facebook."

A Time for Choosing:

"Sarah Palin has just hit on the one issue Obama and his death cult do not want to discuss, and that is tort reform."

Althouse:

"This time, she wants the thing Obama won't talk about: malpractice law reform."

Stephen Kruiser:

"The toughest guy in the GOP continues to be the allegedly washed-up and irrelevant former Governor of Alaska who is using social media to get her message out while the RNC keeps sending me letters."

Mark Tapscott:

"Palin... stakes out a position that seems designed to highlight one of the biggest weaknesses of President Obama and Democratic congressional leaders - their dependance upon trial lawyers for funding."

Logistics Monster:

"Sarah Palin is quietly leading the common sense charge on the important issues of the day using something as simple as a social networking site. No cameras, no teleprompters, no adoring zombies…"

PrairiePundit:

"Prediction--Liberals will not be calling her crazy this weekend, they will be trying to avoid the question and act like she does not exist. That happens sometimes when you nail them."

Conservative Christian:

"The libs did a stupid thing when they made Sarah the butt of their slander, criticism and jokes, because they made even libs want to know what she says. She is now the most powerful voice in the conservative movement, writing face book pages from her living room in Wasilla."

Wake Up Black America:

"It looks like Palin is on the attack again. This time I think she smells blood and is going for the kill against Obamacare."

Right Pundits:

"Sarah Palin’s tort reform position is one that makes sense."

- JP

Palin: "We cannot have health care reform without tort reform"

Sarah Palin, posting again on Facebook, asks President Obama how health care costs can be reduced without first reforming tort law:

No Health Care Reform Without Legal Reform

President Obama's health care "reform" plan has met with significant criticism across the country. Many Americans want change and reform in our current health care system. We recognize that while we have the greatest medical care in the world, there are major problems that we must face, especially in terms of reining in costs and allowing care to be affordable for all. However, as we have seen, current plans being pushed by the Democratic leadership represent change that may not be what we had in mind -- change which poses serious ethical concerns over the government having control over our families’ health care decisions. In addition, the current plans greatly increase costs of health care, while doing lip service toward controlling costs.

We need to address a REAL bipartisan reform proposition that will have REAL impacts on costs, and quality of patient care.

As Governor of Alaska, I learned a little bit about being a target for frivolous suits and complaints (Please, do I really need to footnote that?). I went my whole life without needing a lawyer on speed-dial, but all that changes when you become a target for opportunists and people with no scruples. Our nation’s health care providers have been the targets of similar opportunists for years, and they too have found themselves subjected to false, frivolous, and baseless claims. To quote a former president, “I feel your pain.”

So what can we do? First, we cannot have health care reform without tort reform. The two are intertwined. For example, one supposed justification for socialized medicine is the high cost of health care. As Dr. Scott Gottlieb recently noted, “If Mr. Obama is serious about lowering costs, he'll need to reform the economic structures in medicine—especially programs like Medicare.” [1] Two examples of these “economic structures” are high malpractice insurance premiums foisted on physicians (and ultimately passed on to consumers as “high health care costs”) and the billions wasted on defensive medicine.

Dr. Stuart Weinstein, with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, recently explained the problem:

”The medical liability crisis has had many unintended consequences, most notably a decrease in access to care in a growing number of states and an increase in healthcare costs.

Access is affected as physicians move their practices to states with lower liability rates and change their practice patterns to reduce or eliminate high-risk services. When one considers that half of all neurosurgeons—as well as one third of all orthopedic surgeons, one third of all emergency physicians, and one third of all trauma surgeons—are sued each year, is it any wonder that 70 percent of emergency departments are at risk because they lack available on-call specialist coverage?” [2]

Dr. Weinstein makes good points, points completely ignored by President Obama. Dr. Weinstein details the costs that our out-of-control tort system are causing the health care industry and notes research that “found that liability reforms could reduce defensive medicine practices, leading to a 5 percent to 9 percent reduction in medical expenditures without any effect on mortality or medical complications.” Dr. Weinstein writes:

“If the Kessler and McClellan estimates were applied to total U.S. healthcare spending in 2005, the defensive medicine costs would total between $100 billion and $178 billion per year. Add to this the cost of defending malpractice cases, paying compensation, and covering additional administrative costs (a total of $29.4 billion). Thus, the average American family pays an additional $1,700 to $2,000 per year in healthcare costs simply to cover the costs of defensive medicine.

Excessive litigation and waste in the nation’s current tort system imposes an estimated yearly tort tax of $9,827 for a family of four and increases healthcare spending in the United States by $124 billion. How does this translate to individuals? The average obstetrician-gynecologist (OB-GYN) delivers 100 babies per year. If that OB-GYN must pay a medical liability premium of $200,000 each year (which is the rate in Florida), $2,000 of the delivery cost for each baby goes to pay the cost of the medical liability premium.” [3]

You would think that any effort to reform our health care system would include tort reform, especially if the stated purpose for Obama’s plan to nationalize our health care industry is the current high costs.

So I have new questions for the president: Why no legal reform? Why continue to encourage defensive medicine that wastes billions of dollars and does nothing for the patients? Do you want healthcare reform to benefit trial attorneys or patients?

Many states, including my own state of Alaska, have enacted caps on lawsuit awards against health care providers. Texas enacted caps and found that one county’s medical malpractice claims dropped 41 percent, and another study found a “55 percent decline” after reform measures were passed. [4] That’s one step in health care reform. Limiting lawyer contingency fees, as is done under the Federal Tort Claims Act, is another step. The State of Alaska pioneered the “loser pays” rule in the United States, which deters frivolous civil law suits by making the loser partially pay the winner’s legal bills. Preventing quack doctors from giving “expert” testimony in court against real doctors is another reform.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry noted that, after his state enacted tort reform measures, the number of doctors applying to practice medicine in Texas “skyrocketed by 57 percent” and that the tort reforms “brought critical specialties to underserved areas.” These are real reforms that actually improve access to health care. [5]

Dr. Weinstein’s research shows that around $200 billion per year could be saved with legal reform. That’s real savings. That’s money that could be used to build roads, schools, or hospitals.

If you want to save health care, let’s listen to our doctors too. There should be no health care reform without legal reform. There can be no true health care reform without legal reform.

- Sarah Palin

The former governor's original op-ed, complete with footnotes and references, is here.

Update: Charles Krauthammer is lagging behind Sarah on this debate by a few days. Conservative Comeback very graciously offers to bring CK up to speed here.

- JP