Tort reform is not a necessary part of health care reform, Sen. Sherrod Brown said Thursday night in at Youngstown State University.
In response to the last question of the evening, Brown, a Democrat, said that Texas has some of the most strict limits on lawsuit settlements in the nation, but medical costs that are rising as fast as most other places. He doubts tort reform would have much effect on the cost of health care.
To those who place all Democrats in the pockets of trial lawyers, it would come as no surprise that Brown opposes caps on settlements in malpractice cases. He said those injured should be fairly compensated for their loss.
However, Brown said he could support some measure to limit frivolous lawsuits and better licensing procedures to weed out bad doctors who are responsible for raising malpractice insurance rates for others.
Brown also said thinks the tide of public opinion has turned in favor of health care reform. Three things make him think reform will now pass.
First is President Obama’s plans to take a more active role in the debate with his speech before a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. Second is what he saw in Cincinnati and Akron, where supporters of reform outnumbered opponents at his appearances.
I hope he is right.
At the very least, Congress has to make health insurance accessible to everyone and affordable. For one thing, that means no exclusions for pre-existing conditions and no rate discrimination based on age or sex. Even Rob Portman, the top Republican candidate for Senate next year says on his campaign Web site, “We must make health care coverage affordable and accessible to every Ohio family, regardless of their situation or preexisting health conditions.”
With that kind of agreement on basic goals, it would be a shame if Congress failed to reach some compromise on how to help people.
Brown spoke for about half an hour and then took questions from the audience, staying until everyone had a chance to ask his or her question. Things were civil. Several conservatives politely asked pointed questions and Brown responded respectfully.
At one point, a woman tried to pin Brown down as she read from an what appeared to be a copy of a notorius e-mail message being circulated among conservatives. She asked specifically about federal funding for abortion in the bill and Brown correctly answered that the health care reform bill does not change existing law that prohibits federal funding for abortions. He also pointed out that the e-mail was mostly wrong despite its claims to cite specific parts of the bill.
FactCheck.Org has prepared a detailed response to that email called “Twenty-six Lies About H.R. 3200.” Find it here.
As people filed out, I did not get a chance to ask the woman what she thought of Brown’s answer.
In The Neutral Zone 