The wool that has been pulled over the public's eyes
for the last 20 years or so has finally worn thin.
Reports show that rising health care costs cause
rising insurance premiums - not the old excuse of high
malpractice awards.
A team at Johns Hopkins University released a study
that found malpractice awards in the United States
figure out to a measly $16 per capita. Compare that with
other industrialized countries that, unlike the United
States, have universal health care. Britain's, for
example, is $12 per capita - not much different from
ours.
But this same team found that in 2002, Americans paid
more for prescription drugs, hospital stays and doctor
visits than citizens of other industrialized countries.
One argument is because Americans pay more for health
care, it's better here. Not so. The study found no
evidence that compared with nations with universal
health care, U.S. citizens who spend more for health
care get more services.
"Commonwealth Fund-supported research has
indicated that the U.S. does not get commensurate value
for its health care dollar," said Commonwealth Fund
President Karen Davis, whose group funded the study.
"Compared with other countries, the U.S. lags on
such quality indicators as access to care, including
waiting times for physician appointments. In the United
States, inequities persist between higher- and
lower-income patients on almost every measure we look
at, while other countries are able to assure access to
care without creating disparities among patients
according to income."
To add insult to injury, the United States has less
access to some services - such as hospital beds, time
with doctors, nurses and MRI and CT scans - than
citizens of other developed nations.
The study compared costs between 2002 and 2004 and
found the price of care is the definitive bottom line
explaining the constant rise in health care premiums.
For several years, there have been many legislative
bills to limit malpractice. Proponents argue caps on
malpractice awards would reduce insurance premiums.
That reasoning is just a scare tactic to keep profits
high and prolong the resistance universal health care in
the United States.
While Americans do file more lawsuits, they have good
reason to. Every year, more doctors are dropping out of
specialized care - especially obstetrics and gynecology
and emergency room care - and moving into less expensive
family practices. This is leaving a huge economic burden
with those who stick with those specialties and must pay
enormous malpractice insurance premiums.
But the outcomes of malpractice lawsuits are much
different from what the insurance companies would want
you to know. Two-thirds of the claims in the United
States were dropped, dismissed or found in favor of the
defendants, and the average payout was $265,000 - lower
than the average award in Britain.
Proposed legislation that would limit malpractice
awards to $250,000 is a smoke screen hiding what is
really going on. The lobbyists, insurance companies,
pharmaceutical giants and health care conglomerates
don't want to give up the gravy train.
Fed-up consumers need to derail the train - now.
You can e-mail Barbara J. McKee at chairgrrl@chairgrrl.com.
Her column runs on Tuesdays.
