If a health bill passes, benefits not immediate
USA Today - Oct 12, 2009
...Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch and other Republicans back changing malpractice laws as a tool to lower health care costs. The Congressional Budget Office last week estimated that changes to these laws, such as limiting the amount of money juries can award to patients for botched care, would reduce budget deficits by $54 billion over a decade.

Certificate-of-merit law struck down by Washington Supreme Court
American Medical News, Chicago, IL - Oct 12, 2009
...The Washington Supreme Court dealt a setback to physicians by striking down a tort reform measure aimed at curbing meritless medical liability lawsuits. But doctors, in a separate ruling, won a reprieve when the high court rejected an attempt by trial lawyers to expand physician liability...

Casey: $250K cap on malpractice damages 'insulting'
CNN - Oct 11, 2009
A moderate Pennsylvania Democrat came out strongly Sunday against the possibility of imposing a cap on medical malpractice damages as part of comprehensive health care reform legislation currently under consideration in Congress...

Physician tax proposal has some temperatures rising
Crain's Detroit Business, MI - Oct 11, 2009
...Fox said the Legislature also should approve Senate Bill 858, which provides additional limited medical malpractice liability protection for doctors treating emergency patients...

Physician misconduct often tolerated, analysis finds
Dallas Morning News, TX - Oct 11, 2009
Seven years ago, after a scathing series of stories in The Dallas Morning News, the Texas Medical Board promised to crack down on bad doctors...

Editorial: Montana sets example on medical tort reform
The Billings Gazette, MT - Oct 11, 2009
...Montana is one of only a dozen or so states with some kind of medical litigation screening panel. The Montana panel provides a speedy, unbiased opinion to both the patient/family and to the care provider. The panel doesn't bar the filing of a lawsuit, but provides professional insight on the merits of a complaint...

Opinion - Richard C. Dreyfuss: Big trouble awaiting the next Pa. governor
The Philadelphia Inquirer, PA - Oct 11, 2009
...Separately, the state's unfunded retiree medical liability stands at about $10 billion, against which the state is contributing only about $746 million. Since the annual assumed interest rate is 8.5 percent, the state is not even covering the annual interest cost of $850 million on this growing debt...

Opinion - Mark L. Thomsen: Dream on: Tort reform is a myth
Green Bay Press-Gazette, WI - Oct 11, 2009
...One of the biggest issues for many opponents of health-care reform is "medical malpractice reform." This is a red herring...

Leaner government emerges from Pa. budget battle
Press & Sun-Bulletin, Vestal, NY (Associated Press) - Oct 10, 2009
..* Transfers $808 million from medical malpractice insurance coverage funds...

Malpractice reform would save $54B: study
New York Post, NY - Oct 10, 2009
...Savings would be realized by reducing "defensive" medicine costs that doctors use to avoid litigation and through lower malpractice payments. That means doctors would order fewer unnecessary but costly lab tests...

Report: Reining in lawsuits would cut deficit
The Washington Times, DC - Oct 10, 2009
...Previously, CBO focused its analysis on similar tort reform measures on malpractice insurance premiums. This was the first time CBO based its analysis on how tort reform would affect doctors' use of health care services, based on recent research.

Opinion - William Busse: CBO confirms that tort reform will reduce health care costs
Examiner.com - Oct 10, 2009
...The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report on Friday which says that medical malpractice reform could reduce the cost of healthcare by 54 billion dollars over 10 years...