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A Better Solution
President Obama has no solution to the malpractice problem.
At the National Center for Policy Analysis we have developed a very radical solution – one that would get victims compensated quickly, regardless of fault, and erect economic incentives to reduce adverse medical outcomes, whether or not they involve malpractice.
Basically, the family of any patient who experiences an unexpected (iatrogenic) hospital death would receive a check for, say, $250,000 (or maybe even $500,000) provided they waive in advance their common law right to file a tort claim. The insures who pay off on these episode–specific policies would then become the monitors of doctor behavior and hospital quality. Those with lower mortality rates (for whatever reason) would pay lower premiums and therefore be able to charge lower fees to patients.
Full proposal is sketched here. We have a paper coming out on this soon.
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