Quote:
Originally Posted by Schneed10
I can tell you that at our healthsystem malpractice premiums account for about 3-4% of our total expenses.
Malpractice premiums are increasing at about 15% per year.
So while the rest of our costs increase at about 6% per year, because malpractice is going up by 15%, it is responsible for a half of a percentage increase in overall expense growth within healthcare.
Reducing overall healthcare expenses across the nation by a tenth of a percent would cut the deficit drastically. This could be accomplished by getting malpractice premiums to increase by only 12% instead of by 15%.
Small changes in expense growth accumulate to massive savings across the system, at least when compared to the projected deficit.
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OK...but aren't people more concerned simply with the cost to themselves? When I am think about costs ultimately I am thinking what can we do to get those people paying $700 a month for insurance to only pay $600.
Also...the costs you cited...do they included the so called "defensive medicine" that doctors cite as causing issues?