Can it be any clearer? The NY Times with the story:
Four years after Texas voters approved a constitutional amendment limiting awards in medical malpractice lawsuits, doctors are responding as supporters predicted, arriving from all parts of the country to swell the ranks of specialists at Texas hospitals and bring professional health care to some long-underserved rural areas.The influx, raising the state’s abysmally low ranking in physicians per capita, has flooded the medical board’s offices in Austin with applications for licenses, close to 2,500 at last count.
“It was hard to believe at first; we thought it was a spike,” said Dr. Donald W. Patrick, executive director of the medical board and a neurosurgeon and lawyer. But Dr. Patrick said the trend “” licenses up 18 percent since 2003, when the damage caps were enacted “” has held, with an even sharper jump of 30 percent in the last fiscal year, compared with the year before.
“Doctors are coming to Texas because they sense a friendlier malpractice climate,” he said.
Related posts:
- Doctors can’t wait to practice in Texas
- The Texas stampede of physicians
- Texas malpractice caps: Readers react
- Tort reform working in Texas
- Malpractice caps are likely to die in Illinois
- Malpractice caps on malpractice premiums
- Texas reduces medical malpractice rates
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{ 23 comments }
If Texas legalized extortion, where would the mafiosi go to? They certainly wouldn’t stay in New Jersey. Yet again we have a special provider only benefit that is not available to any other profession. Those of you out there clamoring for providers to be treated like everybody else need to find an explanation for supporting this, if you do, that does not reek of hypocrisy.
“they sense a friendlier malpractice climate”? What does that mean?
Let’s just guarantee all insurance companies a profit. Wouldn’t that be easier?
Or better yet, let’s have the govt. take over malpractice and doctors salaries. Then no more bitching about malpractice claims. Plus, the people they injure don’t have to worry about getting a lawyer help them to get their bills paid and restore some semblance of a quality of life.
Any word yet on whether malpractice caps means the doctors commit less malpractice? Or how the victims of these doctors are doing since the value of their lives was decided by insurance lobbyists?
“let’s have the govt. take over malpractice and doctors salaries”
Do you honestly think the lawyers are going to let that happen? No way – the lawyers will be fighting this just as hard as the docs.
Kevin
The number of medical malpractice lawyers in this country is tiny, a small percentage of the already small percentage of lawyers who represent individuals like you and I in personal injury claims. That ball cannot be stopped by them.
It’s going to be just like workers comp, when it comes to injuries Kevin. And you physicians will really only have yourselves to blame for the whole thing.
You mean, no-fault/Worker’s comp-style malpractice? Bring it on, I say!
You will find support for that approach from the physician community, despite going to a government salary.
It’s the lawyers who will bitterly oppose a no-fault malpractice system, so I suggest you try and convince them.
Thanks,
Kevin
Kevin
Kevin, the only way that happens is with overall single payer.
And do you really think your insurers want no-fault? If so, why haven’t the proposed it? They clearly have the legislative muscle to do so. Hmmm. . . I wonder why they wouldn’t?
There are tort caps at our county fairs, horse shows, 4-H clubs, by our state law.
As has been claimed before, people choose to go without certain services in very rural areas. The people of Texas decided they would rather have doctors than sue doctors. Or more to the point, they felt access to doctors was more important than lawyers access to the jackpot.
Oregon, as pointed out earlier, made the opposite choice. They are paying the price in degraded access to medical care.
Kevin said…..”You mean, no-fault/Worker’s comp-style malpractice? Bring it on, I say!”
Exactly. A government-set fee schedule. No jackpot. The trial bar will never allow that.
It already exists for workplace injuries, so someone allowed it.
“There are tort caps at our county fairs, horse shows, 4-H clubs, by our state law”
What state is that?
“The people of Texas decided they would rather have doctors than sue doctors.”
So how many more doctors per capita are there in rural areas now? Because all the new hospitals in Texas which have come online have primarily been built in cities.
“Oregon, as pointed out earlier, made the opposite choice. They are paying the price in degraded access to medical care.”
How many doctors per capita does Oregon have v. Texas?
“Oregon, as pointed out earlier, made the opposite choice. They are paying the price in degraded access to medical care.”
I live in Texas but spend two weeks in Oregon every summer and witnessed some of the battle there a few summers ago. Tort-vulture carpetbaggers from out of state wrote deceptive letters to community newspapers claiming amongst other things that Texas’ legislation was a failure. The legislation proposed in Oregon was weak compared to what we have in Texas, too weak in my opinion. Even then it did not pass. I considered moving to Oregon, and I may in retirement, but I will not practice medicine in that state. California has MICRA and Oregonians would be wise to adopt similar legislation lest the pnly physicians interested in relocating be retired physicians.
The state I live in is called none of your business. Trollin’ for cases? Find another ambulance to chase.
The per capita figure…..do your own research if you’re so interested. Texas has had a surge of applications precisely consistent with tort reform. The surge is big enough to overwhelm their system. Oregon is getting rural access problems, getting worse year by year. They’ve done the surveys, and an article on it was just run on a post on this site.
I know you want to credit it to the stock market, somehow different in Texas versus Oregon. Or maybe credit it to the phases of the moon or anything besides the obvious tort reform.
Don’t worry, there’s always another ambulance to chase CJD. Try the dry cleaners.
I was employed by the government as a physician (military and VA). It was great: 9-5pm, No weekends, no call, paid holidays, paid vacation, sick leave, hour work outs at the gym at lunch, scheduled work breaks, scheduled CME time. I have none of those things now and do the work of 3 government docs. Federalize us and you will get FEMA/VA for your health care and you won’t even be able to sue the government. boo hoo.
The lawyers will never, ever admit the truth about liability insurance reform. How are we therefore to deal with their comments?
Judge Judy spoke of such people as our reform opposing attorney friends, in the title of her book entitled (I swear) “Don’t Pee on My Shoes And Tell Me It’s Raining.”
Ed Sodaro MD
“California has MICRA and Oregonians would be wise to adopt similar legislation lest the pnly physicians interested in relocating be retired physicians.”
So in other words you have no idea if Oregon has more or less docs per capita, or if they are gaining or losing docs.
“The state I live in is called none of your business.”
That’s because you made that 4-H stuff up.
“The per capita figure…..do your own research if you’re so interested. “
It’s your claim, can you not back it up with facts?
“Texas has had a surge of applications precisely consistent with tort reform.”
It was also consistent with drought. Therefore, it must be the lack of water drawing physicians!
“I know you want to credit it to the stock market, somehow different in Texas versus Oregon.”
You haven’t shown that there is any difference between Texas and Oregon.
“The lawyers will never, ever admit the truth about liability insurance reform.”
Judge Judy? hehehehe. George Clooney said on ER that malpractice is too common. Must be true.
There is a difference between Texas and Oregon. Texas has tort reform. Oregon doesn’t. The upsurge in applications is consistent with the passage of tort reform. The per capita figure is meaningless and you know it. The 4-H stuff is on line, there are equine inherent risk laws in dozens of states.
The people of Texas decided they would rather have the doctors than give lawyers a jackpot. Much like people choosing to move to rural areas, you are free to stay away from Texas if you like. I’m sure they won’t miss another parasitic lawyer.
maybe a better example than Judge Judy
http://www.abajournal.com/news/big_name_pi_lawyer_sentenced_for_bribing_judges
U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate of Jackson, Miss., said the wrongdoing had put an end to the defendants’ “upward spiraling” careers. “Lady Justice is sobbing,” he said. “You essentially put justice up for sale.”
[referring to Lawyer Paul Minor and judges John Whitfield and Wes Teel]
But it’s the 99% of unethical and crooked lawyers lying and cheating their way to the jackpot that give the 1% of ethical lawyers a bad name.
Lots of people here have axes to grind and ad hominem attacks to cast.
Bottom line is that incentives work. If you want more of any business then you will have to incentivise it. More money, less tax, lower liability; take your pick any, all or anything else creative that the seller of the services you need might themselves desire. The people of Texas have traded the possibility of gaining millions in non-economic damages against having more docs accessible every day.
Funny how physicians cry and whine about maintaining a free market until the free market starts affecting them. Hypocrisy at it’s finest.
Where is a doctor complaining about the free market?
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