NYTIMES: TEXAS PROVES THAT CAPPING MALPRACTICE AWARDS INCREASES SERVICE

NYTIMES:

In Texas, it can be a long wait for a doctor: up to six months.

That is not for an appointment. That is the time it can take the Texas Medical Board to process applications to practice.

Four years after Texas voters approved a constitutional amendment limiting awards in medical malpractice lawsuits, doctors are responding as supporters predicted, arriving from all parts of the country to swell the ranks of specialists at Texas hospitals and bring professional health care to some long-underserved rural areas.

The influx, raising the state’s abysmally low ranking in physicians per capita, has flooded the medical board’s offices in Austin with applications for licenses, close to 2,500 at last count.

• THE DEMS OPPOSE THIS, EVEN THOUGH THE LACK OF CAPS - THE STATUS QUO - HAS A VERY NEGATIVE EFFECT.
• FOR EXAMPLE, IN NY THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH OBE-GYN'S WHO'LL PERFORM NORMAL CHILDBIRTH BECAUSE OF THE COST OF MALPRACTICE INSURANCE (COURTESY OF LAWYERS LIKE JOHN EDWARDS).