The core principle of the Republican Right is to get rid of the trial lawyers. One must ask why is this so important to Republicans. Are Republican’s immune from Medical Malpractice? Are Republican’s immune from car wrecks? Do sleepy truck drivers only run over Democrats?
Of course not. The reality is that the Republicans are the party of Big Business and the Democrats are the party of consumers. Class is the real issue in all politics but especially American politics. What is unusual I suppose about American politics is that the rhetoric used by the Republicans attracts so many naturally conservative poor people. They are somehow convinced that they are freer with corporate welfare than with social programs. They are somehow convinced, despite the overwhelming evidence, that health care would be cheaper and better if doctors didn’t have to be accountable to juries for their screw ups.
Medical malpractice cases are not about frivolous lawsuits. In no area of law are there fewer frivolous claims than in medical malpractice. In order for a trial lawyer like myself to sue a doctor, has to commit at least $100,000 of the lawyer’s own money. With the attitudes of juries about medical malpractice, no sane lawyer would ever sue a doctor unless the conduct complained of was outrageously bad and the result catastrophic. The words “frivolous lawsuit” and “medical malpractice” do not belong in the same sentence. Just do the math. We lawyers are supposed to be so calculating. Would we risk $100,000 on something laughable?
What does that have to do with 9/11? Well the Republican’s are the ones who also think that every problem in our world requires the intervention of the American military. I have two confessions for my readers. One, I grew up liberal Democrat at the time we were drafting American boys do die in Vietnam. I was one of those at risk of being drafted. I struggled with what to do about that, whether to become an illegal immigrant to Canada, go to jail or serve in a conflict I knew was morally reprehensible. The first step in that decision was to file for conscientious objector status which I did before I graduated from high school. I didn’t get drafted because my draft lottery number was 252.
My second confession is that I listen to NPR, usually On Point with Tom Ashbrook. http://www.onpointradio.org/ I listen to On Point and I contrast this shows in depth treatment of the issues of our time against the experiences of my life. I reached adulthood knowing that war was wrong. I reached adulthood also having read all of the books of James Michener, particularly Caravans, a book about Afghanistan. I reached 9/11 very concerned about the ongoing domestic war in Israel, a war that seemed as if it would never end.
On 9/16/2001 I sat in the pew of my church, contemplating what had happened, contrasted against who I was, how I became that person and what I knew about history. What I concluded as the pastor was concluding his remarks was that regardless of how “war like” the attacks of 9/11 had been, we could not fight a war to prevent it.
I got up and said: “You can’t start a war to catch a criminal.” What we got instead was a War on Terror. That war has worked about as successfully as our War on Drugs. That war makes about as much sense as the Depression Era American government declaring war on Indiana to find John Dillinger.
While I am morally opposed to modern war, I do understand war’s necessity. World War II was necessary despite all of the horrible atrocities committed by all sides in its prosecution. But to have a war, you have to have an opposing government or force against whom to direct a legitimate military campaign. We had that in World War II of course. We even had it in Korea and Vietnam. But who did we declare war against in Afghanistan? Osama Bin Laden?
One of the lessons we should have learned in Vietnam is that it is very hard to win a war against an opponent you can’t find. When that opponent is a criminal, not a government, it is virtually impossible. Criminals know how to hide. That is one of the things they do best. They are not the German army or a Japanese aircraft carrier. They commit the crime and then they disappear.
If you occupy the country you are invading, they either hide better or move across the border. Certainly, if you don’t catch them by surprise, you will never catch them. It is much easier for an individual to escape than it is for a whole army to pursue them. While there might be certain ways to use military forces covertly to catch such a criminal, an invading force of 100,000 men isn’t it.
You cannot avoid events like 9/11 by invading a country. 9/11 was not launched from Afghanistan. It was an operation where the training by its perpetrators was done in Florida. If the Taliban had not provided safe haven for Bin Laden, he would have hid somewhere else, like Florida or Hamburg. There are no preemptive military strikes against criminals. As helpless as we may feel, the only defense against criminals is detective work. And like the crime itself, detective work is best done with stealth, not invasions.
When the detectives are done with their work, then it is time for the lawyers to prove the case. It is what a nation of laws does. It is our laws and our lawyers that have made America different.
As we look towards the serious issues our government must decide, we must remember that our legal system is what preserves our special place in the world, not our corporate wealth. We American’s must choose to return to a government of laws for the people, by the people, not a government controlled by corporate greed and the preeminence of our Military Industrial complex.
How to manage the maze of medical debt
Date: 2/10/2009
By TOM MURPHY
AP Business Writer
Prostate cancer hospitalized Ernest Patton for only a few days in 2007, but that was long enough to push the North Carolina man toward financial ruin.
His radiation treatment cost $65,000. The total bill topped $100,000, and almost none of it was covered by the insurance he received through his fast-food restaurant job.
But thanks to his sister, who quickly learned the ropes of debt reduction, most of that debt has been forgiven.
“If it hadn’t been for family, I wouldn’t have survived,” Patton said.
A recovery like this is not unusual, but people swamped with medical debt often don’t know how to find relief, according to debt experts. They say both insured and uninsured patients have more leverage than they think to lighten the sometimes crushing weight of medical bills.
And more people are feeling that weight. The nonprofit Commonwealth Fund estimated that a third of all working-age Americans were struggling to pay medical bills in late 2007, the latest figures available. The New York-based private foundation supports independent research and offers grants on health care issues and policy.
Researchers say that percentage likely has risen, given the growing number of people who have since lost jobs and insurance coverage in the recession. About 46 million Americans are uninsured, according to recent estimates.
Medical bills can skyrocket quickly for the uninsured, who often face larger charges because they don’t have insurers negotiating prices for them.
But even people with insurance can get pinched if they chose a plan that provides limited coverage. More employers also are reducing insurance offerings or asking their employees to pay a greater amount.
Medical providers also have become more aggressive in collecting because fewer patients are paying, said Kevin Flynn, president of Philadelphia-based Health Care Advocates Inc., a for-profit business that works with patients on debt resolution and insurance disputes.
Flynn said he started noticing the trend about four months ago, and it will grow worse as the economy weakens.
Still, he estimates that the average patient can shave as much as 15 percent off a bill even before seeking help from a company like his.
NAVIGATING THE PROCESS
Patton’s debt recovery began when his sister, who helped manage his bills after he became sick, asked for help. Leatha Tripp, 70, knew her 56-year-old brother’s insurance wouldn’t dent his bills.
She applied for charity help and offered proof of Patton’s wages. The hospital wrote off the cost of his stay, and the cost of the radiation treatment was eventually forgiven as well.
“I was really shocked that these places would work with you,” said Tripp, who received help from the nonprofit Patient Advocate Foundation.
A patient’s first step should be to learn about public aid programs or hospital discounts, said Carol Pryor, policy director for The Access Project, a Boston-based nonprofit that works to improve health care access.
Patients also should ask for a bill copy that shows every item of care delivered. Scrutinize it and question anything suspicious. Negotiate that $10 charge for Tylenol.
Look for errors too. Flynn frequently sees overcharges for operating room time. They may list six hours when a procedure took four.
Some mistakes really stick out. Flynn once saw a hysterectomy listed on a man’s bill.
Ask about payment options, too. Hospitals frequently offer steep discounts if a bill can be paid all at once. Some may set up no-interest payment plans.
Patients with insurance also should be wary of balance billing. That’s the difference between the amount billed by a provider and the amount paid by the insurer after patients pay copays, coinsurance or deductibles.
Patients should not be balance billed if they use providers in their insurance network. They should check with their insurer if they’re billed for anything beyond standard payments like co-pays or deductibles.
Insurance also can be scrutinized. Most insurers offer a toll-free phone number people can use to ask questions or request a review of their coverage.
Many state governments provide independent panels of experts that examine claims if that review fails to resolve problems.
ENLIST AN ADVOCATE
Sometimes a patient advocate makes a huge difference. It did for Domenico Pelliccione. The 62-year-old suburban Denver resident lost his wife of 21 years, Donna, to colon cancer last July.
Donna had no insurance, and bills totaled more than $300,000 after she started treatment in July 2007.
Meanwhile, Pelliccione was working 12-hour days as a truck driver and then heading to the hospital immediately afterward.
Nasty phone calls and letters started coming from the hospital, Pelliccione said. “I was getting so tired by the end that I didn’t really care about it,” he said. “All I needed to do was be there for her.”
Then someone told him about Patient Advocate Foundation, a nonprofit that helps people with life-threatening or debilitating illnesses negotiate their debt.
The foundation helped whittle his bills down to $190,000 and then to only $5,000 over several months.
The foundation’s services are free, but some for-profit advocates do charge. Potential customers should ask what fees or percentage of savings a company may charge. Other nonprofit agencies like the American Cancer Society can provide referrals to these advocates.
OTHER AVENUES
Even after exhausting these resources, many patients can still wind up with large bills. That’s where friends and family and word of mouth can help.
The North Carolina brother and sister, Leatha Tripp and Ernest Patton, held a yard sale to help with remaining debt. They also rallied their eight siblings and raised about $5,000.
That topped Patton’s insurance contribution, which covered only a few hundred dollars, Tripp said. Her brother had signed up for the least expensive insurance option at work because it was all he could afford.
Community support has helped the Summerlin family of Avon, Ind., as their 8-year-old son, Tommy, fights leukemia.
His parents, Linda and Tom Summerlin, both work full-time, and they have insurance. But they still face daunting costs. Doctors plan to give Tommy a bone marrow transplant, which runs at least $250,000 without complications.
Linda Summerlin noted that even if insurance covers 80 percent of that bill, $50,000 remains.
“I remember when he got the diagnosis,” Summerlin said. “I was like, ‘I’d sell my house, I’d sell my car, I’d sell the shirt off my back to pay for it, if that’s what it took for him to live.'”
So far, she hasn’t had to do any of that. Several local restaurants helped raise money. A woman the Summerlins had never met organized a golf outing that brought in several thousand dollars.
“If we hadn’t had the fundraising, our Christmas would have been very meek,” Linda Summerlin said.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
By TOM MURPHY
AP Business Writer
Prostate cancer hospitalized Ernest Patton for only a few days in 2007, but that was long enough to push the North Carolina man toward financial ruin.
His radiation treatment cost $65,000. The total bill topped $100,000, and almost none of it was covered by the insurance he received through his fast-food restaurant job.
But thanks to his sister, who quickly learned the ropes of debt reduction, most of that debt has been forgiven.
“If it hadn’t been for family, I wouldn’t have survived,” Patton said.
A recovery like this is not unusual, but people swamped with medical debt often don’t know how to find relief, according to debt experts. They say both insured and uninsured patients have more leverage than they think to lighten the sometimes crushing weight of medical bills.
And more people are feeling that weight. The nonprofit Commonwealth Fund estimated that a third of all working-age Americans were struggling to pay medical bills in late 2007, the latest figures available. The New York-based private foundation supports independent research and offers grants on health care issues and policy.
Researchers say that percentage likely has risen, given the growing number of people who have since lost jobs and insurance coverage in the recession. About 46 million Americans are uninsured, according to recent estimates.
Medical bills can skyrocket quickly for the uninsured, who often face larger charges because they don’t have insurers negotiating prices for them.
But even people with insurance can get pinched if they chose a plan that provides limited coverage. More employers also are reducing insurance offerings or asking their employees to pay a greater amount.
Medical providers also have become more aggressive in collecting because fewer patients are paying, said Kevin Flynn, president of Philadelphia-based Health Care Advocates Inc., a for-profit business that works with patients on debt resolution and insurance disputes.
Flynn said he started noticing the trend about four months ago, and it will grow worse as the economy weakens.
Still, he estimates that the average patient can shave as much as 15 percent off a bill even before seeking help from a company like his.
NAVIGATING THE PROCESS
Patton’s debt recovery began when his sister, who helped manage his bills after he became sick, asked for help. Leatha Tripp, 70, knew her 56-year-old brother’s insurance wouldn’t dent his bills.
She applied for charity help and offered proof of Patton’s wages. The hospital wrote off the cost of his stay, and the cost of the radiation treatment was eventually forgiven as well.
“I was really shocked that these places would work with you,” said Tripp, who received help from the nonprofit Patient Advocate Foundation.
A patient’s first step should be to learn about public aid programs or hospital discounts, said Carol Pryor, policy director for The Access Project, a Boston-based nonprofit that works to improve health care access.
Patients also should ask for a bill copy that shows every item of care delivered. Scrutinize it and question anything suspicious. Negotiate that $10 charge for Tylenol.
Look for errors too. Flynn frequently sees overcharges for operating room time. They may list six hours when a procedure took four.
Some mistakes really stick out. Flynn once saw a hysterectomy listed on a man’s bill.
Ask about payment options, too. Hospitals frequently offer steep discounts if a bill can be paid all at once. Some may set up no-interest payment plans.
Patients with insurance also should be wary of balance billing. That’s the difference between the amount billed by a provider and the amount paid by the insurer after patients pay copays, coinsurance or deductibles.
Patients should not be balance billed if they use providers in their insurance network. They should check with their insurer if they’re billed for anything beyond standard payments like co-pays or deductibles.
Insurance also can be scrutinized. Most insurers offer a toll-free phone number people can use to ask questions or request a review of their coverage.
Many state governments provide independent panels of experts that examine claims if that review fails to resolve problems.
ENLIST AN ADVOCATE
Sometimes a patient advocate makes a huge difference. It did for Domenico Pelliccione. The 62-year-old suburban Denver resident lost his wife of 21 years, Donna, to colon cancer last July.
Donna had no insurance, and bills totaled more than $300,000 after she started treatment in July 2007.
Meanwhile, Pelliccione was working 12-hour days as a truck driver and then heading to the hospital immediately afterward.
Nasty phone calls and letters started coming from the hospital, Pelliccione said. “I was getting so tired by the end that I didn’t really care about it,” he said. “All I needed to do was be there for her.”
Then someone told him about Patient Advocate Foundation, a nonprofit that helps people with life-threatening or debilitating illnesses negotiate their debt.
The foundation helped whittle his bills down to $190,000 and then to only $5,000 over several months.
The foundation’s services are free, but some for-profit advocates do charge. Potential customers should ask what fees or percentage of savings a company may charge. Other nonprofit agencies like the American Cancer Society can provide referrals to these advocates.
OTHER AVENUES
Even after exhausting these resources, many patients can still wind up with large bills. That’s where friends and family and word of mouth can help.
The North Carolina brother and sister, Leatha Tripp and Ernest Patton, held a yard sale to help with remaining debt. They also rallied their eight siblings and raised about $5,000.
That topped Patton’s insurance contribution, which covered only a few hundred dollars, Tripp said. Her brother had signed up for the least expensive insurance option at work because it was all he could afford.
Community support has helped the Summerlin family of Avon, Ind., as their 8-year-old son, Tommy, fights leukemia.
His parents, Linda and Tom Summerlin, both work full-time, and they have insurance. But they still face daunting costs. Doctors plan to give Tommy a bone marrow transplant, which runs at least $250,000 without complications.
Linda Summerlin noted that even if insurance covers 80 percent of that bill, $50,000 remains.
“I remember when he got the diagnosis,” Summerlin said. “I was like, ‘I’d sell my house, I’d sell my car, I’d sell the shirt off my back to pay for it, if that’s what it took for him to live.'”
So far, she hasn’t had to do any of that. Several local restaurants helped raise money. A woman the Summerlins had never met organized a golf outing that brought in several thousand dollars.
“If we hadn’t had the fundraising, our Christmas would have been very meek,” Linda Summerlin said.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
