Health Care – Page 17 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Doyle Puts Health Care and Education at the Top of His Accomplishments

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:December 1, 2010
Post category:Health Care Milwaukee Public Schools Speakers at Marquette

Appearing relaxed and comfortable as the end of his eight years in office approaches, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle said Tuesday that he put his work on health care in Wisconsin at the top of his list of accomplishments.

“We have made Wisconsin really the health care leader in the United States,” Doyle said during an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” conversation at Marquette University Law School. “We really have become the model for much of the nation on how to provide health care.”

During Doyle’s tenure, the Badger Care program for low to middle income working people has expanded and, Doyle said, Wisconsin has had the lowest percentage of uninsured residents of any state in the country except Massachusetts, which has a mandatory health insurance law.

Reform?

Post author:Sarah Knutson
Post published:November 15, 2010
Post category:Health Care Tort Law

On November 7, 2010, Senator-elect Ron Johnson was a guest on “Up Front with Mike Gousha.” He made a comment that hit the heart of an issue I have often pondered. This past summer, I had the opportunity to clerk for a law firm that handles primarily medical malpractice actions. So, this conversation sparked my interest.

Mr. Johnson referred to “Tort Reform” and the frivolous lawsuits against medical professionals. He said that an estimated $2-3 billion dollars was spent on frivolous suits that have forced doctors to practice “defensive medicine” in Wisconsin. Whether accurate or not that number has raised eyebrows.

The healthcare crisis facing our nation seems to be the driving forces behind the particular interest in frivolous (or at the least possibly frivolous) medical malpractice actions.

What is tort reform? Generally, tort reform seeks to limit the costs associated with medical malpractice claims by adopting statutory or other regulatory law to limit civil liability.

Best of the Blogs: One Lump or Two?

Post author:Edward A. Fallone
Post published:October 25, 2010
Post category:Business Regulation Constitutional Interpretation Federalism Health Care Political Processes & Rhetoric

November 2 is fast approaching, and the nation is awaiting the election results to see whether the Tea Party Movement will be revealed to be a force in American politics or an over-hyped media sensation. This week’s “Best of the Blogs” feature provides everything a political junkie needs to learn more about the Tea Party Movement.

The obvious starting point might be Butch Cassidy’s (or Paul Newman’s) famous question, “Who are those guys?” Amy Gardner at the Washington Post tries to answer that question here (hat tip to Steven Easley). Despite her best efforts, a definitive picture of the Movement remains elusive:

[A] new Washington Post canvass of hundreds of local tea party groups reveals a different sort of organization, one that is not so much a movement as a disparate band of vaguely connected gatherings that do surprisingly little to engage in the political process.