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Representative Mac Thornberry of District 13 has contributed to the House Republican Health Care Solutions Group's rather delinquent and feeble answer to Democratic efforts at health insurance reform. It comes as no surprise that the Solutions Group doesn't seem all that interested in real solutions, and, for Congressman Thornberry's part, he's provided two measures which are certain to alleviate zero problems for Americans struggling with the costs of healthcare and health insurance. The first bill would offer grants to states to form "healthcare tribunals" comprised of industry insiders to replace judges and juries in civil suits against healthcare providers. It would be a lot like mandating that all claims against parachute manufacturers go before owners of companies that make parachutes, an arrangement that's clearly unfair to the claimant. The idea for these "tribunals" comes out of the old, patently false claim that healthcare costs have been driven up by healthcare providers' vulnerability to frivolous lawsuits. Thornberry hasn't mentioned that Texas capped damages in healthcare liability claims in 2003, an experiment in tort reform that attracted a lot of doctors seeking up to 30% lower malpractice insurance rates and better profits but failed abjectly to stop the inexorable rise of healthcare costs. The second bill proposes a commission on healthcare billing codes and a few changes to claims procedures that are likely to make it harder to fight fraud and waste in Medicare. The whole bill is about panels and committees that will almost certainly have no appreciable effect on costs or rising insurance premiums. It's just the sort of thing the Republican leadership is after, a non-solution to a problem that's wrecking the physical and financial health of millions of Americans. Mr. Thornberry and his colleagues would have us believe that the problems in healthcare are caused by greedy lawyers and incompetent government bureaucrats, but those claims just don't bear out in reality: Tort reform didn't make a difference in Texas, and Medicare consistently outperforms private insurers in measures of customer satisfaction and efficiency. Most of the other measures are similar filler for a non-plan that exists solely as a diversion. Several House members from Texas, including Rep. Joe Barton, have joined the House Republican Health Care Solutions Group. To see if your Republican congressman is wasting your time with this business, check Rep. Roy Blunt's (R-MO) site.
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