Bush's 2nd term health agenda pushes liability reform, HSAs

But experts worry that fiscal concerns could hinder progress on covering uninsured Americans.

By Joel B. Finkelstein, AMNews staff. Nov. 22/29, 2004.

Washington -- President Bush has promised a renewed focus on health care issues, including liability reform, implementation of the Medicare law and controlling insurance costs. But his promise to halve the deficit in five years could cut into efforts to improve access to coverage.

Medical liability reform played a high-profile role during the presidential campaign.

Bush highlighted the problems high liability insurance costs are causing in terms of access to certain specialists and the financial toll to the system from defensive medicine.

In his first press conference following his re-election, the president again promised to address the issue.

"We must confront the frivolous lawsuits that are driving up the cost of health care and hurting doctors and patients," he said.

The issue of liability reform is also a top priority for organized medicine, which will continue pushing hard for changes at the federal level.

"We need national medical liability reform to ensure that all America's patients have access to the physicians and health care they need," AMA President John C. Nelson, MD, MPH, said in a statement.

There is strong public support for liability reform. Among voters, 56% said the tort system encourages lawyers to file too many lawsuits, according to a poll conducted just after the election by Republican polling firm Ayres, McHenry & Associates in Alexandria, Va.

But the poll also showed that liability reform is still relatively low on people's list of priorities, ranking below other health care worries such as rising costs and the uninsured.