Why are the lawyers involved in class action law suits allowed to advertise there? It just seems so wrong. Maybe it's not every state, but at least the last time i was in Hawaii i remember seeing them.

Aren't malpractice suits crippling american healthcare?

<<Aren't malpractice suits crippling american healthcare?>>
No, the main problem is that relying on employers to be the primary providers of health insurance is a relic. It leaves out huge numbers of citizens and makes U.S. business less competitive in the global marketplace.

I mean everybody bitches about taxes the cost of healthcare (to the government) here and all, but healthcare is basically a bottomless pit. Alot of people forget how well off we have it, especially compared to the US.

The government subsidises alot of it, and if you're a student/poor/single mother/whatever then you get even more discounts so that everyone can afford to be healthy. Suits are pretty much nonexistant here, which has its good and its bad points though.

I think Robert Vaughn has appeared in every class action lawsuit commercial ever made.

"Joe Bornstein (or any other lawyer name here) -- is here FOR YOU."

states with caps on damages still have inflating health costs.

i thought the main bitch was how long people have to wait for elective procedures

Lawyers and Class Action lawsuits are hardly the problem in my opinion, even though I realize insurance rates are ungodly high for medical practitioners, but I also think alot more of them should be thinking about their job than the money they are pulling in too.
I think the main problem starts with pharmaceutical companies and the increasing privatization of Hospitals under HMO type companies. They can basically kill any legislation that is a threat to there business and force through any legislation they want. They rip people off far worse than any insurance company covering hospitals.
I really hate how Medicaid is ran and wish they could change it to a more a la carte method of medical coverage. Most people only need an annual physical, some dental work, maybe a pair of glasses and one or two prescriptions filled a year. There needs to be one system that covers those who need regular medical care and pharmaceuticals on a daily basis and another for those who only need some form of preventative health care/ annual physical.

Not necessarily, but my dad (who's a dentist) has had his insurance costs double in the last 10-12 years due to all of the extra malpractice insurance he's had to get.

Medical malpractice and class action law suits are probably not as much of a problem as the way what they do affects how doctors practice. Malpractice law is sort of game, and a lot of the time it has nothing to do with whether or not you did the right thing as a doctor. It usually has a lot more to do with whether your patient had a bad result and how well the patient knows you. As a result of this a lot of people out there practice "cover your ass" type medicine, which tends to be a hell of a lot more expensive.

Anyway, if you're asking whether it's doctors, lawyers, insurance companies, or pharmaceutical companies that are responsible for increasing healthcare costs, the answer is yes.

I don't think class action suits are the problem. Malpractice suits are generally individual lawsuits, related to a particular case of malpractice.

As for advertising class action suits, many people may not realize they are in a class and entitiled to a reward, a la "if you bought a major label CD between 1991 and 1998". The targets of class action suits are usually corporations, since they are the only entities large enough (i.e. with enough reach) to damage large classes of people.

America has the best healthcare is the world , if you can afford it

More than 45 million Americans have no health insurance, and tens of millions more are underinsured. Private corporations pay less than 20% of health costs. Thus, even if you have insurance, you may not be able to afford the care you need, and some treatments may not be covered at all.

Hurray for the private health care industry!

fucking socialist.

if not for my doctor's bills, i would be able to put food on my family's table.

These colors don't run!

i pay my own healthcare, and it fucking sucks.
my girlfriend can't afford healthcare and has to work at her job for another 5 months to get it and it scares the hell out of me.

these colors do run.

Exactly, this is a wildly inflated problem that is really just going to result in more motherfuckers with crippled kids, or the wrong arm amputated getting a pittance of what they deserve.

Insurance companies have always, and will always be there to fuck you.

I pay my own healthcare.

In our lifetime Ireland was the poorest country in what would become the European Union. Through the 80's two things happened to radically alter their economy: having national health care meant that private business no longer had to carry those costs, and free guaranteed tertiary education created a highly prepared workforce that was ready for the global tech explosion. (Of course tax rates had to rise high enough to support these government supported opportunities...in Ireland's case, not personal income tax). In the 90's "the Celtic Tiger" economy surged forward. Now Ireland has the highest standard of living in the E.U. In a little over 20 years a country went from the poorest country in Europe to the richest.

Socialism? Maybe we need to explore the true impact of our paradigms. Maybe health care for our workforce is like water for the crops. Is rain socialist?

You are my new hero.

American health care is the biggest cluster f*ck going today.

You'd have a hard time finding anything about it that's right. Currently I pay about 20% of my monthly income to health insurance for my family and myself. We get an annual "step" raise as teachers in this state every school year. Not once has my step raise kept up with the increasing cost of my health insurance. Another cause that hasn't been mentioned for increasing costs is the way people actually use the insurance that they have. Feeling a need to justify the amount that they spend on health care, many Americans run to the doctor every time their throat is sore. This practice continues to push up costs. Vicious cycle.

Most people, believe it or not, do exactly the opposite. They wait until they are too sick or injured to move, requiring catastrophic or emergency care, which is vastly more expensive to the company, though for my insurance, an e-room visit would have the same deductable as a regular doctor visit.

But, in America, you cannot talk, speak or even let it be known that you think rationally on subjects like this. It's all or nothing, and the guy in the losing end is fucked forever. As Hillary.

i don't think this is true.
it costs time and money to run to the doctor and i think most people avoid doctor offices as much as they can.

I should have been more clear. They do this with their children much more than themselves.

Very interesting. I would like to know what is covered in Ireland's public system and what is not. And whether individuals can seek private care where waiting times are prohibitive. In Canada we are struggling with reforming our system, but the Canadian system has become such a sacred cow that even discussing reform that involves any kind of pivate delivery is a hornet's nest, even though private delivery is already widespread. A big problemis that our healthcare systyem has become tied to our national identity, ie. our health care defines who we are vis-a-vis the United States. We also have the further problem of our federal and provincial governments arguing over jurisdiction. Originally when the medicare system in Canada was conceived, it was to spare the average joe from bankruptcy due to the cost of a catastrophic illness/accident, not to cover the cost of yearly doctor's check-ups. I wsh we'd go back to that paradigm. We need to look at countries like France and others who have set up parallel systems to remove some of the urden on the public purse.

I am in that category.
But the bottom line is that we have had 6 emergency room visits in the last year due to nighttime asthma attacks.

That tends to make a parent more cautious than most when it comes to taking preventative steps.