I agree that tort reform is necessary with respect to punitive damages, but not compensatory damages.  When I was in law school I worked for a law firm that was representing a defendant in a medical malpractice suit. The plaintiff went into the hospital for a nose job, and came out of it a quadrapalegic.She won the case. At the time the award of damages was the highest ever awarded for medical malpractice in Illinois history.  However, tort reform is not a cure all for the problem.What guarantee is there that the insurance industry would reduce doctor's premiums for malpractice insurance?

Either price controls have to be invoked with respect to healthcare insurance premiums, or the insurance companies should be required to compete with a government option. Funding it would be the question. Right now we pay a 2%-3% tax to fund medicare. Medicare is supposed to go bust in 13 years. The ridiculous proposal of issuing health care vouchers with no price controls is certainly not going to fly. Taxes will probably increase to provide the same level of care.  I would not mind paying a higher tax to fund both medicare and a government option. It would certainly be less expensive than the $20,000 per year in insurance premiums that I now pay...and which increases every year.

As I recall back in 2008-2009 the insurance companies bitched like hell that they could not compete with a government option.  However, isn't free enterprise and competition the cornerstone of capitalism and the Republican way?