The White House on Thursday made good on President Obama's pledge to evaluate the medical malpractice system and take steps to discourage "defensive medicine" and frivolous lawsuits.
All without committing much money.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced her department would award $25 million in grants to states and health care systems to test new patient safety and medical liability measures and review existing state laws that discourage malpractice suits, by channeling claims through screening panels or out-of-court mediation.
At a White House briefing, Sebelius echoed the administration's line, by saying she didn't think malpractice suits were really driving health costs off the rails -- as some conservatives in Congress claim. But she allowed that the threat of litigation was chilling professionals in specialties like obstetrics and neurosurgery, by forcing them to order more diagnostic tests and take other potentially costly precautions.
The comparatively paltry sum the administration committed raised immediate questions about whether it's using tort overhaul as a lever in the broader health debate and trying to entice congressional Republicans to come on board with the implied promise of more funding. Quite the opposite, argued Sebelius, who said the administration was removing medical malpractice from the tumult on Capitol Hill so it could be dealt with in a non-political and analytic manner. She even chided the administration of George W. Bush for not launching similar evaluations through HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
"I don't think it counteracts anything (on Capitol Hill). I do think it captures some of the legislative intent," Sebelius said.
It's hard to imagine this will make GOP members and senators roll over and sign on to the nearest available health overhaul. But the administration's posture is worrying some consumer groups, who contend medical malpractice discussions already are taking up too much bandwidth in health care discussions.
"The only safe and effective way to reduce medical malpractice claims and lawsuits is to reduce injuries and deaths," said Joanne Doroshow, executive director of the Center for Justice and Democracy. "It is wrong to try to solve the epidemic of medical malpractice and doctors' insurance problems on the backs of patients who are injured through no fault of their own."
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