3 ms·

It's also why OBGYNs are fleeing red states and some labor and delivery departments at hospitals (see Bonner General Health in Idaho) are shutting down. Not on

It's also why OBGYNs are fleeing red states and some labor and delivery departments at hospitals (see Bonner General Health in Idaho) are shutting down. Not only is it insanely expensive from an insurance stance to begin with, but when you add the possible malpractice lawsuits from doctors being unsure what their legal standing is on a potentially life threatening issue, many would rather just move to a place where that isn't an overriding concern.

hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
> It's also why OBGYNs are fleeing red states and some labor and delivery departments at hospitals I feel like you're conflating 2 separate issues: 1. You are correct, one of the biggest concerns for physicians is malpractice risk, and thus a big draw for physicians (especially in high risk specialties) is states that have low caps on max malpractice damage awards. I'd say there is a tendency of red states to have lower caps, but it's really a mix. E.g. Texas has some of the lowest malpractice caps, while Wyoming has a constitutional provision prohibiting caps. 2. When it comes to the risk of obgyns, the main fear is not really the cost of malpractice, but it's simply that extremely restrictive abortion laws make it impossible to give proper care. Lots of people, and politicians especially, like to see the world in absolute black and white, but obgyns know more than anyone else that there are a whole host of issues that can cause a fetus to be nonviable, or dangerous to the mother, and laws that protect the fetus above all else are not rationale. Obgyns can fall anywhere on the political spectrum just like the populace at large, and there are plenty of conservative obgyns who are against abortion for moral or religious reasons, but they also know the realities of pregnancy and that many of these laws are simply unworkable.
- MisterBastahrd 3y ago
  You're missing the forest for the trees. It doesn't matter that some states have caps on malpractice payouts. That's only half the matter. It's the number of times that a doctor has to be sued FOR malpractice, because a lot of those costs are going to be attorney fees. If I were a lawyer in Texas, I'd be posting billboards about specializing in suing doctors for not providing care. When women realize they can win a windfall in court for being denied care with life threatening conditions, they're going to start suing. And winning. Juries love giving away insurance company money. More suits, higher premiums. Since that risk is spread across the state, so is the insurance rate. Most conservative OBs still understand, know, and respect the science. If Texas or Idaho or Alabama gets too expensive, especially given how absolutely garbage the standard of living is in those states, they're gonna haul ass political affiliation be damned.
  - hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
    > If I were a lawyer in Texas, I'd be posting billboards about specializing in suing doctors for not providing care. This is a fantasy, it has never happened, and it's fundamentally not how the law works. Show a single instance where a doctor has been sued for refusing to give care due to risk of running afoul of restrictive abortion laws.
IG_Semmelweiss 3y ago
big claims require big evidence. Where's all this noise about a regulatory stance causing malpractice lawsuits to skyrocket ?

hn_throwaway_99 3y ago

> It's also why OBGYNs are fleeing red states and some labor and delivery departments at hospitals I feel like you're conflating 2 separate issues: 1. You are correct, one of the biggest concerns for physicians is malpractice risk, and thus a big draw for physicians (especially in high risk specialties) is states that have low caps on max malpractice damage awards. I'd say there is a tendency of red states to have lower caps, but it's really a mix. E.g. Texas has some of the lowest malpractice caps, while Wyoming has a constitutional provision prohibiting caps. 2. When it comes to the risk of obgyns, the main fear is not really the cost of malpractice, but it's simply that extremely restrictive abortion laws make it impossible to give proper care. Lots of people, and politicians especially, like to see the world in absolute black and white, but obgyns know more than anyone else that there are a whole host of issues that can cause a fetus to be nonviable, or dangerous to the mother, and laws that protect the fetus above all else are not rationale. Obgyns can fall anywhere on the political spectrum just like the populace at large, and there are plenty of conservative obgyns who are against abortion for moral or religious reasons, but they also know the realities of pregnancy and that many of these laws are simply unworkable.

MisterBastahrd 3y ago
You're missing the forest for the trees. It doesn't matter that some states have caps on malpractice payouts. That's only half the matter. It's the number of times that a doctor has to be sued FOR malpractice, because a lot of those costs are going to be attorney fees. If I were a lawyer in Texas, I'd be posting billboards about specializing in suing doctors for not providing care. When women realize they can win a windfall in court for being denied care with life threatening conditions, they're going to start suing. And winning. Juries love giving away insurance company money. More suits, higher premiums. Since that risk is spread across the state, so is the insurance rate. Most conservative OBs still understand, know, and respect the science. If Texas or Idaho or Alabama gets too expensive, especially given how absolutely garbage the standard of living is in those states, they're gonna haul ass political affiliation be damned.
- hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
  > If I were a lawyer in Texas, I'd be posting billboards about specializing in suing doctors for not providing care. This is a fantasy, it has never happened, and it's fundamentally not how the law works. Show a single instance where a doctor has been sued for refusing to give care due to risk of running afoul of restrictive abortion laws.

IG_Semmelweiss 3y ago

big claims require big evidence. Where's all this noise about a regulatory stance causing malpractice lawsuits to skyrocket ?