I am in complete agreement with Dr. Jeff Wajda’s Dec. 14 guest commentary, “Loss of malpractice insurance jeopardizes local care.” As a doctor, I want to reiterate how important liability insurance reform is to our state and to all health-care consumers. Our health-care system is in jeopardy, it is time to take action.
Recently, two local emergency rooms were told that their malpractice insurance will be canceled through no fault of their own. If you can’t get insurance, you can’t serve patients. That’s why many doctors are leaving our state. Fewer doctors means less access for patients. It means people can’t get the care they need.
The good news is that there is a solution to skyrocketing insurance rates. For the past 25 years California has provided a model of how to successfully control medical malpractice premiums, while still protecting the rights of injured patients. As a result, that state has some of the lowest malpractice premiums in the United States. They have avoided the crisis that we now face.
Yes, there is a health-care crisis in Washington. But we have a chance to avert the “health-care tragedy” that Dr. Wajda warns us about. Medical liability reform is necessary and it is in the best interest of all health-care consumers.
The Everett Clinic
Everett
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