The Hill reports:
At a meeting on Capitol Hill last week with nearly a dozen doctors groups, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said the Senate would take up separate legislation to halt scheduled Medicare cuts in doctor payments over the next 10 years. In return, Reid made it clear that he expected their support for the broader healthcare bill, according to four sources in the meeting.
Another interesting little tidbit about tort reform, the one thing that could cut massive costs for healthcare, but the Democrats are staunchly opposed to:
Reid also asked that doctors ease up on demands for medical malpractice reform during the upcoming healthcare debate. Democrats have traditionally resisted calls for tort reform, which trial attorneys — a reliable base group — staunchly oppose.
Hot Air points out that the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) did address tort reform:
What’s more, they ignored a real, valid method to actually reduce costs: tort reform. That would save the government alone $54 billion over the next ten years, and the industry as a whole as much as $135 billion, according to the CBO. Unfortunately, Reid needs his trial lawyers more than he needs the doctors, so he has casually dismissed a real reform to the system that would rein in abuse and overuse of the system.
That is the bottom line and the obvious question voters should be asking is "why are the Democrats so opposed to the one type of reform that could cut costs the most?"
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