Paul Waldman asks why Democrats are seriously considering tort reform:
When it became clear that Republicans were going to have to offer their own ideas on health care, if for no other reason than to show they are more than the Party of No, they put on their thinking caps and came up with four. One — “Give states the tools to create their own innovative reforms that lower health care costs” — is essentially meaningless. Another — “Allow individuals, small businesses, and trade associations to pool together and acquire health insurance at lower prices” — sounds like the exchanges established by the Democrats’ plan, just in less effective form. And a third — “Let families and businesses buy health insurance across state lines” — is a spectacularly dumb idea that would bring all the humanity of the credit-card industry to health care.
But the GOP’s final health-care proposal might actually end up happening. The Republican Party wants to limit people’s ability to sue over medical malpractice, a cause known as “tort reform.” President Barack Obama has said many times he supports the idea, as have some other Democrats. There are a number of ways one could go about tort reform, each of which has economic, medical, and moral implications. Before anyone accepts the Republicans’ favored version, though, we should understand that their policy won’t do what they say it will.
