Quote:
Originally Posted by Dantilla
There are many pieces to this puzzle.
One of them is "defensive" medicine. In ouy way-too-litigious society, doctors order tests that may not be necessary just in case something unfortunate goes wrong, and he/she ends up getting sued.
Bad form to sit on the witness stand and tell an attorney "No, I didn't order that test, as I thought it wasn't needed". "Your honor, this doctor is clearly guilty of malpractice!"
Malpractice insurance is one of the big expenses of opening up a medical practice here.
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Not as big an expense as you would think. Malpractice premiums and settlements/awards amount to less than 1/2 of 1% of total health care costs in this country. FWIW I feel doctors are getting sgrewed by their carriers. Tort reform was enacted in my state limiting non-pecuniary damages to $250K. Insurance industry lobbied hard for it citing a likely decrease in premiums. Guess what...premiums actually went up.