House Democrat Says Tort Reform Won't Reduce Health Care Costs

By Leah Valencia, University of New Mexico- Talk Radio News Service

Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa), along with victims of medical malpractice, urged caution over pursuing tort reform Wednesday, warning that caps on court-awarded damages won’t reduce health care costs.

Braley, who has been working on America’s Affordable Health Choices Act since last March, said tort reform is not directly addressed in the bill, but that it does encourage early settlement in malpractice suits.

“At a time when people are trying to cap and restrict injured and deceased patients ability to recover full and fair compensation, it is time we get back we get back to taking about the underlying problem,” Braley said. “The easiest way to reduce the cost of medical malpractice in this country is to reduce the large number of preventable medical errors.”

Tort reform has been identified by Republicans as a way to reduce federal budget deficits by an estimated $54 billion over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office, but there has been no commitment by Democratic leaders to include tort reform in a healthcare reform bill.

Braley stated that “defensive medicine” accounts for only 1.5 percent of the cost of care, and should not be included in a broader healthcare reform.

“I expect there to be further attempts by Republicans to push the tort reform agenda,” he said. “I am more interested in moving forward in a positive direction and getting the ultimate goal, improving patients safety, accomplished whenever we can.”

22 Democratic Members of Congress join to form Populist Caucus

Representative Bruce Braley (D-Iowa),, announced the formation of the new Populist Caucus. It is aimed at protecting and expanding the middle class. "This is the moment, and the time is right to form the populist caucus because many of us feel that the needs of the middle class are being ignored or not been given the proper attention."

Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) said that this country has been founded on the proposition that people who want to work hard to get into the middle class can make it, and that those who are in the middle class can work to do better. "We have never seen, since the 1920's, the greatest disparity of wealth that we have had in this country. And it's shocking, it's unconscionable, and it's wrong. And many Americans have a sneaking suspicion that part of the reason is that Congress has lost its way." He said it is time for Congress to start advocating for the middle class, which is what the caucus intends to do.

"As we move forward and debate the policies that will hopefully rebuild this economy and re-build the middle class in this country, we will lean heavily on the lessons that we've learned over the last ten years or so and work again to make this an economy that works for everyone," said Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY).
In order to strengthen the middle class, the caucus outlined 6 issues that they plan to focus on: creating good jobs and a secure retirement, cutting taxes for the middle class, affordable and quality for healthcare, quality and affordable education, fair trade, and protecting consumers.

Bush failed to support POWs

Congressman Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) testified in a House Judiciary Committee hearing on ensuring the redress for American victims of state sponsored terrorism. He said that President Bush’s willingness to veto the National Defense Authorization Act because of Iraqi interests was outrageous. He said that the National Defense Authorization Act would have given U.S. soldiers a 3.5 percent pay raise along with allowing those who had been tortured to seek compensation.

He said the President’s claim that settling these lawsuits would hurt Iraq’s reconstruction is ridiculous because Iraq is projected to make $100 billion dollars in oil revenues alone, during 2008. He said that passing legislation that will hold the government of Iraq accountable is essential to uphold international law.

Congressman Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) said that the government of Iraq reportedly told President Bush that it would reportedly withdraw $25 billion worth of assets from U.S. markets if President Bush did not veto the bill. He said that after the President vetoed the bill Congress should have intervened and overridden the veto. He said that if this issue is not resolved it will put an “enhanced risk” of torture on American POWs in the future.