Bush Pushes Health, Boomer Issues

Keating also backed the president’s call to make tax cuts passed by Congress over the past few years permanent, arguing that those cuts have helped workers save more toward their retirement. He also pointed to a key provision in the tax laws passed during the Bush administration that allow for older workers, those over 50, to contribute more toward their 401(k) plans as a “catch up” provision.

“This has been especially helpful to baby boomers who are trying to prepare financially for their rapidly approaching retirements and working women who are the most likely to have been in and out of the work force during their working lives,” Keating said.

The president’s focus on health care, including greater incentives to create HSAs, was lauded by Karen Ignagni, president and CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans.

“In just two years, more than three million consumers–many of whom were previously uninsured–have chosen health savings accounts,” Ignagni said. “Boosting contribution limits and making HSAs more flexible will enable more consumers to access these innovative products.”

The president’s call for legislation designed to rein in medical malpractice lawsuits also was supported by Ignagni.

“Any plan to rein in health care costs has to include a solution for the medical liability crisis,” she said. “As a new study from PricewaterhouseCoopers reveals, consumers and employers are paying a hidden, 10% medical liability tax every time they encounter the health care system.”

But Joe Lieber, a securities analyst at Washington Analysis, played down the president’s proposals.

“While it was widely expected that Bush would focus much attention on health care and energy, many of the proposals were not new [i.e., medical malpractice reform, association health plans] and are unlikely to pass, while others have little immediate investment impact [i.e., clean coal, nuclear energy, solar].”

The Association of Trial Lawyers of America said in a statement that the “facts don’t match the president’s rhetoric on lawsuits,” citing statistics that federal tort trials are down 79%.

The ATLA statement cited statistics from the Congressional Budget Office that medical malpractice costs amount to less than 2% of overall health care spending in the United States.

“The president’s claims that lawsuits are clogging our courts are undermined by facts released by his own administration last summer,” ATLA said. According to the U.S. Justice Department, federal tort (personal injury) trials have decreased by 79% since 1985, it said. ATLA added that a recent survey of federal judges–including those appointed by Bush–found that an “overwhelming majority” do not believe that so-called “frivolous lawsuits” are a major problem in our civil justice system.

In his speech, the president asked Congress to make the medical liability system fairer and more predictable while reducing wasteful costs.

Under the president’s plan, contained in legislation passed by the House several times in his presidency but blocked in the Senate, payments for punitive damages would be limited to egregious cases “where they are justified.” The proposals would limit noneconomic damages to reasonable amounts, ensure that old cases cannot be brought to court years after an event and provide that defendants pay judgments in proportion to their fault.