Donald Trump will soon be the United States’ next President. He will be sworn in on January 20. With a new administration could come changes in current laws and this has led to much discussion amongst political experts. The uncertainty regarding certain legislation has created anxiety in Chicago residents as well as others.
One of the most important issues to be addressed is the current state of health care in the United States. The Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare, is among the most contested and most heated topic of discussion. With a Republican controlled congress, it remains to be seen what will ultimately happen with Obamacare. Will it be completely removed without any replacement? Will parts of it stay? Will new laws come into play in an effort to defray the costs of it?
One topic of discussion is the role of medical malpractice suits and how they affect health care costs. While $100 billion dollars in malpractice suits may seem like a lot of money, considering all of health care as an industry is more than $3.2 trillion dollars annually, medical malpractice only accounts for 3% of the total. There is talk of tort reform, and talk of federal limits or caps on malpractice suits, though there is much disagreement between their effectiveness.
What is important to note is that over 250,000 people die every year due to medical mistakes, and victims who suffer from additional illness, injuries or death due to the mistakes of others. Whether it is Chicago medical malpractice or anywhere in the country, the guilty parties should be held responsible and the victims should receive compensation for their condition.
Source: Washington Post, “Top Republicans say there’s a medical malpractice crisis. Experts say there isn’t,” By Chad Terhune, Dec. 30, 2016