CBO Sees the Light on Liability Reform

Opponents of medical liability reform have always been fond of quoting the Congressional Budget Office saying that reform measures would do very little to save taxpayers money and squeeze unnecessary spending out of the healthcare system.

CBO has now re-evaluated the issue and determined what many healthcare experts have always known to be true, that the current flawed medical liability system is costing billions of dollars in spending that doesn’t help a single patient.

CBO’s latest analysis, issued yesterday, says that government healthcare programs can save as much as $54 billion over 10 years if nationwide limits on non-economic damages in medical liability cases are utilized.  That’s a tenfold increase from what CBO estimated just last year. Read more

CATEGORIES: Health Reform, Healthcare Costs and Value, Liability Reform  |   Link  |   Trackback  |   Comments (519)

How Do You Ignite Innovation?

The superb New York Times columnist David Brooks has a piece in today’s newspaper that is well worth reading.  He raises one of the most important, and yet overlooked, questions in the ongoing health reform debate – what role should government play in the future of medical innovation?  Read more

CATEGORIES: Health Reform, Protecting Innovation  |   Link  |   Trackback  |   Comments (80)

Pharmaceutical Leader Calls for Stronger FDA

In a speech today at the Cleveland Clinic Innovation Summit, the CEO of one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies called for a stronger, adequately-funded Food and Drug Administration to help meet the public’s need for new innovative treatments.

David Brennan, head of AstraZeneca (a Healthcare Leadership Council member), said that the FDA needs to be a “watchdog with a full set of teeth.”  Read more

CATEGORIES: Protecting Innovation  |   Link  |   Trackback  |   Comments (80)