Rush Holt recently held a town meeting and was asked why "tort reform" was not a part of the health care plan. His response was that even if all of the court awarded judgments were reduced to zero that the savings would be at best 1 percent. What he did not address is the cost of practicing "defensive medicine," which is estimated at $500 billion annually and tort reform would eliminate the need for defensive medicine.

Politicians will not introduce tort reform since the lawyer lobby is so strong that going against that group would be politically unwise.

What they propose is reducing Medicare payments by $500 billion. That action would cripple Medicare but politicians see a win-win situation by not going against their fellow lawyer brethren.
Bob Witt
Tinton Falls