In a bid to bring doctors on board for his health-care overhaul, said Russ Britt in MarketWatch, President Obama “ventured into the lion’s den” Monday, pitching a “hard sell” to the American Medical Association about the need for doctors to cut costs. He got a “thunderous standing ovation” for mentioning malpractice tort reform, but the “warm reception” cooled quickly when he said he doesn’t back malpractice award caps.
On the other side, Obama’s mere mention of malpractice reform sent Democrats and trial lawyers “into a fluster,” said The Wall Street Journal in an editorial. Tort reform is essential to cutting costs—some economists argue that fear over “stratospheric jury awards” costs us $100 billion a year—but the trial lobby needn’t fear Obama. Without malpractice caps, medical liability is just an empty “token policy” to keep doctors at the bargaining table.
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