Suing is causing a rise in prices. Suing isn't the answer to the wrongdoings within the health care industry. Suing is done by greedy people looking for a windfall. I don't believe it, but I've heard it often enough for me to know it's a ridiculous claim. Suing is often a last recourse, not a first recourse. And before you listen to the MD's whine about lawsuits against them, perhaps you'd better consider that number of lawsuits being brought by and supported by our doctors. The AMA website actually has a litigation spot. An example of the new trend in physician initiated lawsuits is at:
http://www.strasburger.com/p4p/publications/health_care_quality_standards.htm
Doctors fighting insurance companies. Whether it's their support of lawsuits going after health insurers for low reimbursement rates that lead their patients to accuse them of overcharging, or lawsuits that drop physicians based on some efficiency rating, doctors are suing.
I like the fact that the insurance companies and doctors are pointing fingers at each other as the responsible parties for our health care crisis...they are both right. Physician greed and insurance company greed have been financed by consumers for decades, and now, when consumers no longer have the capacity to fund them in the style to which they've become accustomed, they are turning on one another.
Insurers continue to couch their greedy claims using the buzz language of "we're trying to provide affordable coverage," in other words we're doing it for you consumer. And physicians are arguing that they are the Dock-ters, your care is being impacted by paper pushers trying to tell us what to do, in other words, they too are fighting for the consumer. Yeah, yeah. Greed. They are protecting their status quo and consumers aren't buying in as often as they should.
Physicians are still winning. However, be hopeful, the unpopularity of the health insurers will spread to the doctors as individuals realize that for the physicians too, it's just business. Then, when physician fees and health care provider fees start getting into some reality sphere, perhaps we'll make some progress.
