Corp Reform - Not Tort Reform

Spin, Spin, Spin... Tort Reform "worked" in Georgia?

Georgia State Representative Mark Burkhalter authored a congratulatory op-ed for Appen Newspapers, Inc.  In it, he claims that tort reform "worked" in Georgia because after tort reform passed last year:

• One insurer is raising its rates by 5.8% instead of 15.8%.  (A 10% "reduction.")
• The state's largest medical malpractice insurer is keeping rates the same as they were last year.  (Last year, they hiked rates by 30%.)
• The same insurer will lower rates by 10% if the tort reform legislation is upheld by the Georgia Supreme Court.

Wait a minute.  I thought tort reform was a magic bullet that would lower insurance rates?  Could it be that Georgia passed little, if any meaningful reform?  Not according to Burkhalter:

"Less than a year ago, the Georgia Legislature accomplished what no General Assembly in this state could do despite more than 15 years of trying: adopt comprehensive civil justice reform.

Within the first six weeks of Republican control at the State Capitol, we adopted a sweeping tort reform plan aimed at giving relief to the medical community, businesses and consumers who pay a built-in "tort tax" on every purchase they make to cover the cost of increasing litigation...

Our legislation not only put a cap on non-economic damages, but we put limits on suing emergency room physicians, made defendants responsible only for the portion of damages they inflicted, and made it harder for trial lawyers to "shop" a case to a favorable jurisdiction where a jury had a greater likelihood of issuing exorbitant damages."

So why is it that insurers are still raising rates after a "sweeping" and "comprehensive" tort reform package was enacted?  Why is it that after rate hikes of 30%, one insurer may lower rates by 10%, and another insurer is raising rates by 5.8% instead of 15.8%?

I see two possible reasons.

1. Tort reform is saving these insurers a ton of money, and they decided to pocket the savings, rather than lower premiums.
2. Other factors (like the cyclical nature of the insurance industry) is what has caused rate hikes - not a legal crisis.

I think it's very telling that the two rate reductions are both exactly 10%.  Perhaps insurers see only a 10% savings when such "sweeping" and "comprehensive" reforms are enacted. 

Put your hip waders on and check out the rest of the article.

Wisconsin Governor Says No to Malpractice Caps

Insurance Journal reports that Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle vetoed legislation that would have capped medical malpractice payouts at $450k for adults and $550k for minors. 

These caps were similar to caps the Wisconsin Supreme Court previously declared unconstitutional, and Governor Doyle cited that as the primary reason for his veto:

"Approving a law that would quickly be overturned doesn't do anyone any good,'' Doyle said in a written statement."

Assembly Speaker John Gard has vowed to fight to override the Governor's veto and pass this unconstitutional law.  That's not surprising, considering he's accepted more campaign contributions from the healthcare industry than any other special interest group. 

Anyone who lives in Wisconsin's 89th Assembly District should email him and ask him why he's putting special interest groups ahead of the Wisconsin Constitution he swore an oath to uphold.

I Thought All Lawyers Were Kerry Supporters?

If I had a dollar for everytime I've heard that lawyers are trying to buy the presidency for Kerry and Edwards, I'd buy tons of swag from the corpreform store.

But since I don't, I thought I'd share this article that shows the top corporate lawyers in America are giving more money to Bush than to Kerry, and even gave more money to Gore than to Kerry!

"Among the 50 best-paid GCs [General Counsel] in the country, 22 have contributed money directly to Bush's re-election effort during the 2004 election cycle. Only four members of this elite group have written a check for Kerry. (Two GCs covered their bets and gave to both.)"

"Bush has received $43,000 from this group; Kerry, $6,000. "

A Funny Quote About Bush

I don't want my site to become centered on Bush bashing or Republican trashing, but the following quote from this MSNBC article really made me laugh:

"...Bush himself enjoys a complex relationship with the English language and is a far from perfect public speaker."

Thought you'd enjoy it.

Think Tanks as Lobbyists?

While doing some research about the conservative "think tank" The Manhattan Institute, I came across TomPaine.com and this article about how think tanks are rapidly turning into lobbyists. Basically, corporations pay a think tank to do a study that will end up with a certain result, and then use that study to sway politicians. After all, the study was done by scientists or scholars, right?