Physicians stop states from raiding liability funds
American Medical News, Chicago, IL - Aug 17, 2009
New Hampshire and Pennsylvania physicians won separate court rulings against state authorities looking to tap into state-created medical liability funds to solve budget shortfalls...

Guest editorial (The Keene Sentinel): Are these really NH advantages?
Nashua Telegraph, Hudson, NH - Aug 17, 2009
...On another front, the state’s decision to balance the biennial budget with $110 million from a health-care providers’ medical malpractice fund has been bluntly rejected in Superior Court...

Key legislator: U.S. needs mandatory public reporting of medical errors
The Advocate, Stamford, CT - Aug 17, 2009
Mandatory national reporting of medical errors should be a top priority in Congress, said Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Seattle, a key subcommittee chairman who helped write the current healthcare reform legislation...

States shed reinsurance and 'run naked' through storm risks
New York Times, NY - Aug 17, 2009
...Critics warn that Texas, and perhaps other states, is following in the path of Florida. Residents there are paying fees, also called assessments, on every type of insurance policy except workers' compensation and medical malpractice from past hurricanes...

Opinion - Douglas Turner: Angry citizens protest government run amok
The Buffalo News, Buffalo, NY - Aug 17, 2009
...What else but conceit would prompt Democratic leaders to propose end-of-life counseling in their health care bill but completely ignore the pressing issue of lawsuit, tort reform and doctors’ soaring malpractice insurance premiums?...

Opinion - Howard Smith: ObamaCare of Limbaugh - why are Americans irate?
The Examiner, DC - Aug 17, 2009
...HR 3200 created new hunting grounds for malpractice lawyers. Although traditionally having lower liability exposure, now, with their expanded gatekeeper role, primary care physicians will be on the front lines. This bill was a malpractice attorney’s dream come true...

Transcript: Blue ribbon panel on health care
Fox News Sunday - Aug 17, 2009
...You mentioned malpractice reform. I think that has to be part of any real reform. I do believe that letting small businesses access an individual — access something like an insurance exchange to bring down the rates — that would help...

Editorial: First, let's agree there's a problem
Observer-Reporter, Washington, PA - Aug 16, 2009
...Doctors charge exorbitant fees and order unnecessary and costly tests because they must pay enormous premiums for malpractice insurance and protect themselves against lawsuits...

Opinion - Dan Linssen: Sooner or later, we'll pay for care
Green Bay Press-Gazette, WI - Aug 16, 2009
...Second, litigation and liability costs for health-care providers have soared. To address this cost factor we must answer a fundamental question: Do we want the right to collect enormous sums from medical malpractice lawsuits or do we want to keep health-care premiums down? ...

Opinion - Dan K. Thomasson: Begin reform with the insurers
Washington Times, Washington, DC - Aug 16, 2009
...These premiums, if my doctor and lawyer friends are correct, are assessed even though, as one lawyer explained, "only an insane lawyer takes on a malpractice suit against a doctor that isn't 99 percent provable, and there aren't many of those." ...

AMA defends support of healthcare bill
The Hill, Washington, DC - Aug 15, 2009
...Even though congressional Democrats oppose one of the AMA’s other big priorities – caps on malpractice lawsuit damages – getting a new Medicare payment formula enacted would be a major victory for the group...

Opinion - Wirick: Improving liability costs crucial to health care reform
Patriot-News, Harrisburg, PA - Aug 15, 2009
..The president of the Pennsylvania Neurosurgical Society addressed that issue in a letter he sent recently to Pennsylvania's U.S. senators and congressional representatives, which included ways to make the medical liability system more economically efficient...