corrente

OB/GYNs, vanishing docs, malpractice reform.... (fact check)

[1] Cheney overstates Wyoming doctors' premiums by a factor of six.

Cheney stated: "[In Wyoming] rates for a general practitioner have gone from $40,000 a year to $100,000 a year for an insurance policy."

The Facts: In 2004, the insurance rate for the state’s leading underwriter (Doctors Company) for family general practice was $15,322 (no obstetrics, no surgery), according to a non-partisan report from the Wyoming Legislative Service Office.[1]

[2] Cheney’s disappearing doctor figure is contradicted by hard numbers

Cheney stated: "We’ve lost one out of 11 OB/GYN practitioners in the country."

The Facts: Cheney apparently relied on a survey commissioned by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) in which 9 percent of respondents said they had ceased practice. But every year thousands of obstetricians stop delivering babies as they get older. The ACOG survey did not attempt to determine whether malpractice rates were a statistically significant factor affecting OB/GYNs’ decisions.

In fact, the number of board-certified OB/GYNs in the United States grew by 18.1 percent from 1999 to 2004, according to the American Board of Medical Specialties

[3] John Kerry and the liberals in Congress blocked medical malpractice reform.

The Senate voted on three malpractice bills. Senator Kerry did not vote to "block" any of these bills. In each case, Majority Leader Frist was required to get 60 votes for the bill to proceed to the floor. And in each case, the Republicans were unable to muster even 50 votes from their 51-seat majority to bring the bill up for debate.

Much more info - for further details see: Public Citizen -- Cheney’s Claims in V.P. Debate and New Bush-Cheney Medical Malpractice Ad Continue Campaign of Deception and Distortion | Government Data and Studies Show Bush-Cheney Claims About Insurance Rates and Access to Doctors Have No Foundation

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