If the President wanted to reform health care....

If the President was serious about reform of the health care system, he would propose tort reform.

Frivolous law suits and defensive medicine impose real costs on the health care system. The judicial system is the wrong place to resolve questions of responsibility and damages. The alternative is a system modeled on the workers compensation system. This would establish a "schedule" of damages for different kinds of injuries and a low cost administrative law process to resolve cases. In addition, standards should be tighten for penalizing doctors charged with multiple injuries.

The current system forces doctors to practice defensive medicine which increases health care costs. This includes the infamous tests that Obama decries. But it also includes referrals to other doctors to evidence "due care" in ruling out possible causes. Defensive medicine and malpractice imposes an enormous cost on the system. Isn't it time to actually have a national discussion on this topic.