CYA Treatment

"I saved your life?!" "No! You ruined my death!" - The Incredibles.

Ah-Ha. I have it! Leave it all to me.

No worries everybody who has been toiling endlessly through out America trying to reform this CRISIS that we have been calling “health care.” There is another piece of the puzzle that could save some coin quickly and efficiently.

It would also throw the AMA a small bone.

It’s tort reform.

Yes, people, tort reform.

If you ever wondered what I laid around in bed thinking about, now you know.

This is what I think about in my leisure time to relax my brain.

I am a dork.

I know.

I am okay with it.

I actually think it’s hot.

I think you do too.

Of course Obama is SERIOUS about controlling costs in healthcare reform.

I am pretty confidant that this is something all parties can agree on.

We want effective reform and we want it cost effectively.

Good.

Now that we have the goal in place, why not take a small step by defining FRIVOLOUS MEDICAL MALPRACTICE LAWSUITS.

I am not a big fan of big government defining and micromanaging everything, but I have to say, litigation within the medical community needs to be controlled.

The consequences of opportunistic litigation is resounding.

It has forced physician’s insurance premiums to skyrocket to prices that can easily bankrupt a small practice.

It has also contributed to increasing cost of care due to the very popular “CYA” method of caretaking.

That’s “Cover your ass” people.

That means order everthing that could possibly, ever, be necessessary in this world or the next. This way if a lawsuit ever does materialize all the appropriate tests would have been ordered.

All those appropriate tests are also often all unnecessary tests that would only be necessary in the context of a legal suit.

But no one knows which patient is which and who will be the one to send a physician to court so everybody gets the “CYA” treatment.

By finally declaring what is, and is not, a frivolous, opportunistic lawsuit against a care provider, theoretically, insurance costs would be lowered and the extreme costs of “defense medicine” would no longer exists.

Practitioners could actually practice without fear that they’ll be sidelined by a ludicious demand for cash payment over hurt feelings.

What’s really the beauty of this? I haven’t quite gotten there yet.

Tort reform can occur prior to a large health care reform legislative package.

Reform in this arena could stand alone as a separate piece of legislation.

This would be a great act of good will towards confirming that our government really does have its citizen’s best interest at heart.

I can’t wait to see this olive branch extended.