The Importance of Understanding Tort Reform

In our previous post, titled Reforming How We Think About Tort Reform, we indicated that over the next year we would be publishing several posts addressing the impact of tort reform on health care and set forth the facts behind a number of the arguments frequently bandied about when it comes to this topic.  Within weeks of publishing that post, an excellent example of the importance of understanding the facts and the driving forces behind the arguments was published in the Kansas City Star. 

On December 29, 2013, Lancer Gates, D.O published an op-ed piece in the Star outlining his concerns over the Missouri Supreme Court’s recent ruling that the Missouri cap on non-economic damages was unconstitutional.  In doing so, he offers a number of standard pro-tort reform arguments—namely that the absence of tort reform drives up the cost of health care while diminishing the quality of health care.  In referencing life in Missouri in the absence of a cap on non-economic damages:  “As a result, lawsuit premiums skyrocketed,driving physicians out of their practices, compromising patient access to care,decreasing the quality of health care services and generating higher healthcare costs for everyone.”  There is virtually nothing in the article offered as support for these significant accusations and at least some of the facts that are offered as support are highly debatable as has been effectively noted by Brett Emison here.

I’m not going to go through the problems with some of Dr. Gates’ facts.  I point out this article because it exemplifies the problem with the debate over tort reform—the substitution of fact based reasoning with fear inducing platitudes.  Our hope is to replace these fear based arguments with facts and context about tort reform, its purpose, and its impact on health care.  

-Ryan