Health Care Costs and Malpractice Reform

A proposal from David Kendall, a senior fellow for health policy at the Progressive Policy Institute has published a memo to presidential candidates in The American Interest Online argues that “one significant source of rising health care costs can be identified and tamed: the dysfunctional way we deal with medical malpractice.” He recommends replacing the current malpractice legal system with specialized health courts. These specialized courts would be administrative in design, similar to other long-standing, effective alternatives to traditional courts, such as the procedures used in workers’ compensation cases. Health court rulings would establish new standards of practice to cover medical circumstances for which common standards have not previously been settled. The health court system would thus yield an essential benefit that our current system of medical justice fails to provide: consistent, rational rulings that send clear signals to health care providers about what constitutes good medical practice. In so doing, it would help eliminate the legal uncertainty that encourages doctors to practice defensive medicine and the silence among practitioners and patients that very likely contributes to medical errors. Consequently, Kendall suggests that “this reform would win the support of virtually all medical professionals, and once the doctors are on your side, your broader health care reform plan will have the credibility it needs to gain broad public support.” Full article (html)