From the Sacramento Bee.

There might be good reasons to consider changes in how malpractice suits are handled. But the idea that tort reform would significantly slow, or even alter, the trajectory of U.S. health care spending is not among them.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office recently estimated that tort reform could save $41 billion over the next decade, a figure now being touted by proponents.

To most of us, $41 billion is a lot of money. In the world of health care, it’s a tiny drop in a very large ocean. Between now and 2019, annual health care spending will increase by $2 trillion. Not to $2 trillion. It will grow by $2 trillion, from $2.5 trillion to about $4.5 trillion.

The projected savings from capping malpractice awards works out to a 2 percent reduction in what we otherwise would spend.

A Measly 2 percent!

Read the whole article/editorial here…  http://www.sacbee.com/846/story/2542910.html