|
Dear President Bush:
When you said, "...frivolous lawsuits drive up insurance premiums for everybody, and discourage employers from offering employee coverage at all," you were right on the mark. Lawsuits are getting out of hand and are endangering our healthcare system. They are literally making us sick.
-
The American tort liability system is the most expensive in the world, with total costs more than double the average of other industrialized nations. A 2003 study conducted by Tillinghast-Towers Perrin found that the U.S. tort system cost $205 billion in 2001, which translates to $721 per U.S. citizen.
-
Hospitals, nursing homes, and health insurers have seen their costs escalate as a result of lawsuit abuse. According to one recent study, approximately $50 billion per year is spent on defensive medicine - tests, procedures, and paperwork practiced solely for litigation avoidance.
-
A recent report in the Quarterly Journal of Economics estimates that limiting unreasonable jury awards could cut healthcare costs by 5-9%, which would save $70-126 billion in healthcare costs per year. Saving this money would lower the cost of healthcare coverage and permit an additional 2.4 - 4.3 million Americans to obtain medical insurance.
We need to put the healthcare of hard-working Americans before the profit of trial lawyers. Anyone who cares about the future of this country and the future of America's children must support healthcare litigation reform. Without it, our healthcare system is in jeopardy.
I'm with you, President Bush. Keep up the good fight!
|
