Ideas about how we should reform our health care system are bountiful. Everybody has their own opinion on the topic and how it should be handled. However, some ideas seem better than others. In my opinion the Republican’s tort reform would be ideal for our nation and our current situation we are in. According to the federal budget we are in debt 14.3 trillion dollars. Tort reform could help reduce the national deficit by cutting down on unnecessary expenditures in the medical field. This would be beneficial for all in the end because it would lower the cost of living all around and help make health care more accessible and affordable for all. This is why I strongly believe that tort reform would be a step in the right direction.
As I mentioned before, our national debt has sky rocketed to 14.3 trillion dollars. This deficit affects us by taking our hard earned money out of our paychecks through taxes. A Large percentage of this debt is due to health care. Health care providers spend massive amounts of money on unnecessary tests and services. The tort reform would help limit the use of these tests and services, cutting medical cost. The congressional budget office stated that “tort reform would cut cost by limiting the use of diagnostic tests and other services health care providers and doctors use to reduce exposure to lawsuit”. (Haberkorn, 2009, para 2) These tests are important of course, but are not needed to be done as frequently as they are. Each time a doctor runs a diagnostic test it costs them money, which drives the price of medical care up. This is done to ensure the health care provider they are making profit. The reform would help limit the use of these test, thus lowering the cost of health care.
This reform would not only limit the number of times a doctor would be able to run test but also set limitations on the amount of money citizens are able to receive from pain and suffering suits. These law suits cause malpractice’s insurance to go up tremendously. Health care providers spend “35 billion dollars a year on malpractice liability”. (Haberkorn, 2009, para 7) This once again, causes prices in health care to rise, making health care to others less affordable. The reform would set limitations on these suits only allowing a maximum of 500,000 dollars to be awarded to the plaintiff. These limitations would reduce national health care spending by .5%. This might not sound like a lot but it would add up eventually lowering our nations debt. The congressional budget office has stated that this reform has the potential to save our nation 54 billion dollars in medical spending.
These ideas shown to you however, are not well known to the general public. I believe that people need to take more active roles on the subject of reform in our health care system so they can choose which policy change suits them best. Advocating tort reform would be one way to do so. The tort reform would not only lower the cost of health care and the health care provider’s insurance, but eventually lower our nations deficit. People can participate and take a more active role by voting. Voting for this reform would guarantee the people lower health care and a healthier nation.
Reference page
Haberkorn, J. (2009, October 10). Health Care Tort Reform a Savings; GOP seeks to cut deficit [Electronic version]. The Washington Times, p. A1.
How Does the National Debt Affect the Individual? (2008, October 22). In Accumulating money. Retrieved May 6, 2011, from http://www.accumulatingmoney.com/how-does-the-national-debt-affect-the-individual/
