Increased Premiums Caused by Excessive Punitive Damages in Medical Malpractice
UPDATE: In the latest David VS Goliath case of Medical Malpractice last week, a jury awarded Insurance giant Aetna to pay $25.5 Million to the family of a woman who died after Cancer Treatment was denied.
While these families do deserve compensation & the Insurers do need to face consequences, the Punitive part of these jury awards is what is causing premiums to rise every year.
Actual damages, yes. Damages for Pain & Suffering, ok.
But with respect to Punitive Damages, perhaps a better solution would be Legislation forcing stronger regulations for Treatment Coverage making it harder for companies like Aetna to deny life-saving treatment to Insureds.
In this particular case, the Insured did not survive, she has already died, yet the Punitive Damages in this case were 25.5 Million. She is no longer in treatment. She no longer needs funding to support herself.
If the Jury wants to "Send a Message" to Aetna, this 25.5 Million could go towards a general Risk Fund that benefits the public as a whole.
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https://www.revolvingdoorhr.com/single-post/2018/07/02/Healthcare-Its-My-Livelihood
UPDATE. Excessive Punitive Damages against Toyota & Monsanto in separate jury awards were announced yesterday. While these two cases didn't originate as a result of Medical Malpractice, the families involved will have enormous medical bills for the rest of their lives.
While these juries did make the right decision, the monetary awards were excessive & will increase prices we all pay.
Open Enrollment Season is upon us. As a Life & Health Insurance Agent and as the Grandmother of a child who was almost killed by his doctors, I have an opinion on this.
Everything in me wants to sue the shit out of anyone involved in Solomon's birth.
Most accurately the #1 factor in driving up the cost of Healthcare & Health Insurance is Medical Malpractice Lawsuits.
Why is nobody pointing out this FACT???
Suing for Actual Damages & perhaps even additional for Pain & Suffering may all be legitimate, but it is the PREDATORY PERSONAL INJURY TRIAL LAWYERS that pile on additional PUNITIVE DAMAGES to “quote unquote Send Them a Message” that have CAUSED the collapse of our Medical System.
It has been this way forever & has less to do with Obamacare’s failure & everything to do with Tort Reform with Medical Malpractice lawsuits against doctors. Think of all the TV advertising done by law firms: you can’t turn the TV on without seeing several attorney ads.
Who do you think ultimately pays the price for these legal settlements??? We do.
With respect to the excessive awards in the Toyota & Monsanto cases, these multi-million dollar awards went to single families.
In my opinion, part of the proceeds of these excessive damage awards should go to some sort of public foundation in Health Care, in Medical Research , or something that benefits the general public.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/10/health/monsanto-johnson-trial-verdict/index.html
