tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9092921073919323401.post6056909198972654978..comments2021-05-17T11:30:41.722-04:00Comments on Ripley Report: WHERE ARE THE CONSERVATIVE PROPOSALS?Ripleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03084714996372103357noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9092921073919323401.post-9409989072322500642009-08-30T13:26:22.312-04:002009-08-30T13:26:22.312-04:00Good to hear from you, Matt! Thanks for your inpu...Good to hear from you, Matt! Thanks for your input on this, as well as joining my blog - both are appreciated. I checked out McAllen TX and tort reform, and it isn't the tort reform that has caused rates to skyrocket. Here are two articles to check out:<br /><br />http://docisinblog.com/index.php/2009/07/27/texas-tort-reform/<br /><br />http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/06/01/090601fa_fact_gawande (The info about why costs are going up is on page 2 - it has more to do with 'tonsil vultures' and 'foot rustlers' (unnecessary surgeries) than tort reform)<br /><br />Thanks again for your input. I still think tort reform is necessary to help reduce costs - not the ONLY solution, but one part of a multi-step process. I always appreciate new information on a topic and am happy to check it out!Ripleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03084714996372103357noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9092921073919323401.post-22509060258549158402009-08-29T09:38:29.620-04:002009-08-29T09:38:29.620-04:00Tort reform doesn't work. Texas has it, and th...Tort reform doesn't work. Texas has it, and they also have the city with the highest per patient Medicare costs in the country - McCallum, Texas. And malpractice insurance rates have gone up since the Lone Star state got tort reform. <br /><br />While there certainly are frivolous and expensive lawsuits filed against medical practitioners, tort reform shifts the conversation away from the ethics of doctors and hospitals and towards the ethics of patients. And the American medical profession has abandoned all ethics in pursuit of becoming the richest working class in the world. <br /><br />What I find shocking (and appalling, and disgusting) about the health care "debate" going on in our government is this - if "progressives" are going to claim that health care is a basic human right which everyone is entitled to, just like education and water, then why do they refuse to acknowledge the obvious conclusion that if this is the case, then health care needs to be managed and regulated as a utility? <br /><br />I'll tell you why - because doctors, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies contribute billions to the campaign warchests of politicians on both sides of the aisle, and the last thing they want is to be limited to fair profits and held to high standards of service. <br /><br />It all comes back to campaign finance reform. We'll never have a government that is capable of reducing itself in size, reducing it's involvement in our lives, and looking out for the best interests of the people they are supposed to be serving as long as bribery is legal in this country.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15151134834615974063noreply@blogger.com