Mississippi Tort Reform Works
Our elected leaders would never let facts get in the way of their political ambitions.
Since passing tort reform in 2004, Mississippi has seen the number of medical malpractice claims plummet by 91 percent from its peak. The state’s largest medical liability insurer dropped its premiums by 42 percent, and has offered an additional 20 percent rebate each year since tort reform went into effect.
“You can’t pass real tort reform unless it’s led by the governor,” Mississippi Republican governor Haley Barbour said. “The other side is tough. They have enormous resources. And they fear the trial lawyers — that if you beat them on tort reform, they won’t have those resources anymore.”
This health care initiative might have been palatable had tort reform been an integral part of the discussion, but we all know it’s not even up for discussion.
In the end (despite the flowery rhetoric) it’s not about sob stories about how people were denied coverage, or lost relatives because of impersonal insurance companies. It’s about payback to lobbyists and hefty campaign contributors. Screw the rest of us.
September 21st, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Tort reform is a great idea for all litigation. Make it like the U.K. where “loser pays”, throwing in claim limits. I mean, if you really lost a loved one to a bad surgery, is 20 million going to bring them back?
September 22nd, 2009 at 10:32 am
Shakespeare had it right, let’s kill all the Lawyers:
“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers” – Henry VI
What a Capitol idea! Thanks, William…
Igor
(No, I don’t condone the actual killing of a Lawyer, I know too many good ones. Let’s simply put them out of business. Tort reform, loser pays, payout limits, etc…. let ‘em starve.)
September 22nd, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Tort reform….it’s definitely what’s needed in our Country. We don’t have a Justice System anymore….we have a Legal System….and it’s designed to most benefit those manipulate it on a daily basis (i.e. lawyers, judges, etc).