But you have to know these settlements are rediculas, especaily when lawyers are on TV advertising all the time to take hem to the cleaners. As you said so little of true malpractice is true. But theses lawyers are fleecing the insurance companies and they pass it downhill to us.

 

One point you folks are overlooking is malpractice insurance. Here in the Buckeye state, many MD's are leaving becasue it is so high---your insurance goes up if somebody fiels a claim against you---even if you are later found NOT TO BE AT FAULT.

My sister-in-law is a pediatrician. She makes pretty good money, but not what many of you would imagine. Two of her partners have left Ohio because of the rising costs of just getting insurance.

Tim C.

 

A lawyer's normal fee is normally 40% -50% of the settlement.

Tim C.

 

No corks just screw on caps

 

Like I said "They have to pass that cost to us."

 

I do know of an MD who misdiagnosed something, and unfortunately, the man died from something that was actually very curable. In our civil legal system, awards---as well as punitive damages---can only really be monetary. How much is a man's life---a husband, father, provider---worth? If that was your husband/wife/SO, wouldn't you want your "pound of flesh"?

TSC

 

Accidents do happen---but even in our world---not just the medical world, we are held accountable. If you are found at fault, you better hope that you have enough insurance---otherwise, well, you will need a lawyer to protect your (***)ets.

Tim C.

 

I'll give you guys something as far as American Health Care is concerned, and this is only my opinion.

If you have money, and lots of it, America has the best Health Care on earth.
I don't know if you guys will agree with me or not, but like I said, only if you have very deep pockets.

It's like going to the fanciest restaurant in town and ordering everything "a la carte".

Now for the average joe who is only as good as his insurance company will allow, now that's a different story. It sucks to be poor.

When the late President Zayed of the UAE required a kidney transplant, there's a reason he had it done at the Cleveland Clinic.

Here's a guy who could've went anywhere in the world, but he chose the US.

That right there is a testament to the quality of care available in America (if you have the dough)

 

If pocket depth were not my problem, I'd fly to Germany and Get two ceramic vertabra complete with flexible disc. Money helps much more.

PM me for the donation account info>

 

This and all the prvious posts tie into my contention that lawyers are a majority of the problem. Doctors in the most part do what they do because of the love of the practice. Very few do it for the money so to say. The insurance companies are culpable too. There needs to be a balance of entities. This is where the answer lies. Universal health care managed by the government is NOT the answer.

 

Do the words "Customary, Usual, and Reasonable" ring a bell? Before I had my knee replacemnts, I had to wear an ACL brace on one of my legs. If I had no insurance, the PT was going to charge me one price...since I had insurance, they raised the price, knowing that the inurance company would not pay the entire bill---

IOW---brace was priced at $750

They charge me $750---they would charge insurance $1100, knowing that they would only get CUR---$750. If they actually charge the insurance company what it was really worth, they would pay far less tha it was actually worth.

Tim C.

 

and my point also.. the insurance companies are a problem. Them and the lawyers. So why does everyone think that the government is the answer? It just blows me away. FIX THE PROBLEM..Not the feel good way.. in a meaningful way.

 

Show me the changes Obama said he's going to make to health care. I haven't seen anything that suggests socialized medicine, or anything else that would compromise health care. All I've seen is that he wants to try and get everyone insurance. If everyone had insurance, everyone's health care costs would go down without compromising quality.

I myself am in a rather crappy situation, but you tell me if it sounds fair to you. I'm 42 years old, and have operated my own auto repair business for around 15 years. I have been paying for my own heath insurance for almost as long.

Almost 5 years ago, I was feeling like crap, and thought I had lung cancer. I went to see a doctor, and ended up seeing a cardiologist. He determined that my lungs were fine, but I had end stage congestive heart failure. After a series of tests, it was determined that it was caused by a simple virus I had picked up a few years before, and while I thought I was just getting out of shape, I was really experiencing the results of my heart failing.

My condition is terminal, there is no cure that will fix my heart. My only possibility is a heart transplant, but my insurance won't cover it, and because I have insurance, I'm not eligible for any kind of financial assistance. I can't even get on the transplant list until I can show that I have the ability to pay for the operation, which costs an average of $250k.

I am well educated, have always been a very hard worker, paid taxes, never freeloaded off of society, never received welfare, or took any type of handouts, yet now my very life depends on it, and I'm not eligible. In the past year, I have had to retire because I no longer have the strength to keep my business running. To me, that type of system seems wrong, but I do have a personal stake in the matter, so my opinion may be biased.

Regardless, it no longer matters because I've decided that I don't want a transplant anyway. Even if I found a way of paying for the operation, I could never afford the aftercare, and really have no interest in the quality of life I would have. But I still think it's wrong that I don't even have a choice.

The main reason heathcare and insurance costs so much is because of the uninsured. Contrary to popular belief, every single medical bill does get paid. Not always by the preferred source, but they get paid none the less. If it means that the rates for procedures have to be increased, then that's what happens. In other words, the insured pay significantly more to have something done to help pay for the folks without insurance, and in order for that to function, the insured pay significantly higher premiums. If more people had coverage, medical expenses would go down. Way down. That means everyones medical expenses would go down, which would bring down premiums even further. There are so many ways that everyone would benefit, it's mind blowing. Fewer people would be sick. With fewer people sick, fewer sick days would have to be paid. Productivity would increase. Not to mention, fewer people would be going to the ER for BS reasons which would make ER visits much faster, and much more efficient, increasing the odds of your well being should you have to go to one.

Done correctly, you would save money with some form of national insurance system. You might be taxed more, but your monthly insurance premiums would be reduced further, thus saving you money.

So far, Obama would lower my taxes and my health insurance premiums. That sounds great to me.

 

I know your health insurance premiums are killing you. One of the things Huckabee did in Arkansas is the "nobody left behind" program.
I'm self employed and my wife worked at Lockheed. Her job was transfered to Dallas. Under the circustances we couldn't just move there. So she is now here learning the biz. Meanwhile I couldn't get insurance because of my prexisting condition. Arkansas has a program that requires insurance companies to accept you in order to received their incentives from the state government. I pay alot for this coverage , but it's good coverage. It does however limit what places you can go. I have to go outside this system to prove a problem{at my own expence}but then it opens them up to litigation.
I'll never eprsue the litigation because I'm now getting the care Required for my condition. Sometimes youjust have to raise a little hell, but you can get what you need.
Start looking into it

 

I spent more than three years looking into it.

It took some time, but I have accepted my situation, and come to grips with things. I wasn't trying to make this about myself, I was just giving a first hand example of how this system sucks, even if you do work hard, pay taxes, and dot all your i's and cross all your t's.

Thank you for your concern, though, that does mean a lot.

I'm glad things are working out for you and your wife.