Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveZ
...This link documents what experiences the locals in the countries with nationalized health have....The Congressional Budget Office is about as reliable as it gets. According to the CBO, less than 2% of all health care costs were attributed to medical malpractice....
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First, I think I'll still rely more on a scientific poll than a series of one-sided anecdotal reports.
Secondly, CBO is pretty good. But does the "less than 2%" that they say results from legal liabilities and actions include all the unnecessary tests and procedures that physicians prescribe in an effort to cover their fannies in the case they might be sued later? I would find that a statistic that is hard to believe. If we want to rely on anecdotal reports, I can tell you with 100% certainty that based on the bills I've received, the various tests that my internist prescribed as a part of a "pre-surgical" physical increased the cost of what I thought to be a reasonable set of tests to qualify me for orthopaedic surgery
by more than triple. Of course, I'm not a physician, but what both an electrocariogram AND an echo cardiogram AND a chemical stress test (for someone with no personal or family history of heart problems) were necessary prior to hip revision surgery didn't make sense to me--other than the need for both the internist and surgeon to cover their butts and/or generate fees for the hospital that employs them...or both.
Like I said, the CBO's "less than 2%" estimate seems WAAAY too low to me.