Strange Bedfellows: Gard, Green, and Doyle on Medical Malpractice

Well bless their hearts! John Gard, Republican Assembly leader and candidate for our Congressional 8th district, and Congressman Mark Green, Republican candidate for governor, both applauded the new law signed by Governor Doyle that imposes limits on medical malpractice awards to victims. This is indeed a rather strange triumvirate! Doyle said that the legislation that caps medical malpractice awards at $750,000 for non economic damages represents a "reasonable compromise". Both Gard and Green expressed their joy and voiced their support because the legislation would "keep health care affordable and accessible".

The logic of this belief and the supposed compromise eludes any rational person. Medical liability insurance represents less than 1% of the cost of medical treatment in our country. How will a cap on this small increment have any impact on what we pay for medical services? Ask your medical service provider and check it out? My hunch is that your providers will not lower their bills one penny.

The real issue should be the lack of access and rapidly escalating costs of medical care that have nothing to do with medical liability, but everything to do with the corporatization of our health care system. We have gone from family practices and nonprofit hospitals to a massive profit driven medical system operated by large Health Maintenance Organizations. The executives of these corporations often are paid tens of millions of dollars in annual compensation, and they are in the business of health care management for one purpose--profit! Your medical bill is determined by cost accountants who are paid to provide their corporate executives with the desired profit after all costs are covered, including billions of dollars spent for replicated administrative costs and unnecessary layers of administrative bureaucrats who manage and screen your medical treatments to avoid costs.

Most politicians are like Gard, Green, and Doyle and they deliberately dance around the real issues claiming that this, that, or the other are responsible for excessive medical costs. Until they all accept reality we will continue to be burdened by medical care that we cannot afford or even access because of high HMO enrollment premiums and co payments, or because of existing medical exclusions.

The eventual solution to excessive costs and dwindling accessibility is universal health care and a single payer system. Most of our state and federal elected officials are provided medical insurance and coverage largely paid for by our state or federal taxes. Their dependents are also included. They are guaranteed the best medical care that our taxes can purchase. Why, then, can't we do the same for the rest of us? If not why don't we withhold all taxes for the payment of medical care for all elected officials? Maybe then we will realize some fundamental changes in the delivery of medical care for the rest of us.

Perhaps Gard, Green, and Doyle will return all the dollars that have been spent on them and their families for medical care, and thereby demonstrate that they are really serious about doing something useful. Short of that, perhaps the three of them can leave our state and allow others to accomplish what they seem unwilling to attempt -- real reform of our medical delivery system. Stop playing the game of politics and do something useful for the people of Wisconsin and our country.



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Zeep