| Spending money on legal fees is a part of our | | | | increase for median out-of-court settlements. |
| society, especially in the healthcare | | | | |
| industry. There is a time and place for the | | | | The frightening thing is that no end is in |
| legal system in healthcare, but more and more | | | | sight. Because jury awards are increasing, |
| we unfortunately see instances where legal | | | | the need for robust malpractice insurance and |
| fees are unnecessary or high, resulting in a | | | | legal coverage also increases. When you |
| significant impact on doctors and nurses and | | | | consider the cost of a doctor or nurse |
| the services provided to patients. | | | | battling malpractice claims, you are looking |
| | | | at significant monies. Even maintaining |
| Some of the rising cost of healthcare is | | | | legal counsel and malpractice insurance |
| directly related to an existing crisis in our | | | | coverage is enough to put some medical |
| country. One of the most significant aspects | | | | professionals out of business or at least |
| of consumers' relationship with the | | | | push them to a less risky field of medicine. |
| healthcare industry is that when things go | | | | |
| wrong, one of the first things that happens | | | | While it's tempting to throw the blame on |
| is someone hires an attorney for a | | | | attorneys' charges, the underlying issue is |
| malpractice suit. | | | | that we need better healthcare solutions. In |
| | | | addition, we need laws that better protect |
| Because of high costs for healthcare | | | | medical professionals from frivolous lawsuits |
| insurance coverage, we now have 41 million | | | | filed by money-hungry without a valid claim. |
| people in the United States going "bare." | | | | |
| What this means is that in addition to the | | | | Now, we have seen a proposal by the President |
| individual not getting proper care, doctors | | | | with renewed attention on capping awards |
| and nurses are now faced with a major | | | | specific to pain and suffering in malpractice |
| challenge specific to out of control | | | | lawsuits. True, this does shed some light on |
| malpractice coverage. In other words, | | | | an all-important matter but we still have a |
| uninsured patients, doctors have to find a | | | | very, long way to go. The solution to high |
| way of protecting themselves in case of error | | | | legal costs in healthcare is not a cut and |
| or mishap. | | | | dry case. We need to boost our nationwide |
| | | | health coverage, toughen our laws, and ensure |
| More than $10 billion is spent annually in | | | | doctors and nurses are properly trained. |
| the U.S. for malpractice and legal costs | | | | Most importantly, the hospitals and clinics |
| arising from absence of or inadequate | | | | that staff medical professionals need to put |
| healthcare coverage.In addition to out of | | | | strict guidelines in place to reduce risk for |
| control malpractice premiums due to the | | | | malpractice and the ever-increasing legal |
| current tort system, we also see a 50% | | | | dollar. |
| increase in median jury awards and a 40% | | | | |