Pay back time

[tombogan03884]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204731804574387021307651050.html

By RICHARD B. RAFAL

Since we are moving toward socialism with ObamaCare, the time has come to do the same with other professions—especially lawyers. Physician committees can decide whether lawyers are necessary in any given situation.

At a town-hall meeting in Portsmouth, N.H., last month, our uninformed lawyer in chief suggested that we physicians would rather chop off a foot than manage diabetes since we would make more money doing surgery. Then President Obama compounded his attack by claiming a doctor's reimbursement is between "$30,000" and "$50,000" for such amputations! (Actually, such surgery costs only about $1,500.)

Physicians have never been so insulted. Because of these affronts, I will gladly volunteer for the important duty of controlling and regulating lawyers. Since most of what lawyers do is repetitive boilerplate or pushing paper, physicians would have no problem dictating what is appropriate for attorneys. We physicians know much more about legal practice than lawyers do about medicine.

Following are highlights of a proposed bill authorizing the dismantling of the current framework of law practice and instituting socialized legal care:

• Contingency fees will be discouraged, and eventually outlawed, over a five-year period. This will put legal rewards back into the pockets of the deserving—the public and the aggrieved parties. Slick lawyers taking their "cut" smacks of a bookie operation. Attorneys will be permitted to keep up to 3% in contingency cases, the remainder going into a pool for poor people.

• Legal "DRGs." Each potential legal situation will be assigned a relative value, and charges limited to this amount. Program participation and acceptance of this amount is mandatory, regardless of the number of hours spent on the matter. Government schedules of flat fees for each service, analogous to medicine's Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs), will be issued. For example, any divorce will have a set fee of, say, $1,000, regardless of its simplicity or complexity. This will eliminate shady hourly billing. Niggling fees such as $2 per page photocopied or faxed would disappear. Who else nickels-and-dimes you while at the same time charging hundreds of dollars per hour? I'm surprised lawyers don't tack shipping and handling onto their bills.

• Legal "death panels." Over 75? You will not be entitled to legal care for any matter. Why waste money on those who are only going to die soon? We can decrease utilization, save money and unclog the courts simultaneously. Grandma, you're on your own.

• Ration legal care. One may need to wait months to consult an attorney. Despite a perceived legal need, physician review panels or government bureaucrats may deem advice unnecessary. Possibly one may not get representation before court dates or deadlines. But that' s tough: What do you want for "free"?

• Physician controlled legal review. This is potentially the most exciting reform, with doctors leading committees for determining the necessity of all legal procedures and the fairness of attorney fees. What a wonderful way for doctors to get even with the sharks attempting to eviscerate the practice of medicine.

• Discourage/eliminate specialization. Legal specialists with extra training and experience charge more money, contributing to increased costs of legal care, making it unaffordable for many. This reform will guarantee a selection of mediocre, unmotivated attorneys but should help slow rising legal costs. Big shot under indictment? Classified National Archives documents down your pants? Sitting president defending against impeachment? Have FBI agents found $90,000 in your freezer? Too bad. Under reform you too may have to go to the government legal shop for advice.

• Electronic legal records. We should enter the digital age and computerize and centralize legal records nationwide. All files must be in a standard, preferably inconvenient, format and must be available to government agencies. A single database of judgments, court records, client files, etc. will decrease legal expenses. Anyone with Internet access will be able to search the database, eliminating unjustifiable fees charged by law firms for supposedly proprietary information, while fostering transparency. It will enable consumers to dump their clunker attorneys and transfer records easily.

• Ban legal advertisements. Catchy phone numbers such as 1-800-LAWYERS would be seized by the government and repurposed for reporting unscrupulous attorneys.

• New government oversight. Government overhead to manage the legal system will include a cabinet secretary, commissioners, ombudsmen, auditors, assistants, czars and departments.

• Collect data about the supply of and demand for attorneys.Create a commission to study the diversity and geographic distribution of attorneys, with power to stipulate and enforce corrective actions to right imbalances. The more bureaucracy the better. One can never have too many eyes watching these sleazy sneaks.

• Lawyer Reduction Act (H.R. -3200). A self-explanatory bill that not only decreases the number of law students, but also arbitrarily removes 3,200 attorneys from practice each year. Textbook addition by subtraction.

Enthusiastically embracing the above legal changes can serve as a "teachable moment" and will go a long way toward giving the lawyers who run Congress a taste of their own medicine.

Dr. Rafal is a radiologist in New York City.

[1911 Junkie]

Yeah, but they're lawyers. They know what's best for everbody. 

[Hazcat]

One of the Drs in congress should write this bill!

[tt11758]

One of the Drs in congress should write this bill!

It'd never pass.  Congress has WAY more lawyers than doctors.

[Hazcat]

It'd never pass.  Congress has WAY more lawyers than doctors.

True, but if it could get some national exposure it MIGHT wake some people up.

[Sponsor]

[r_w]

racists


 

[tt11758]

True, but if it could get some national exposure it MIGHT wake some people up.

Do you really think the lamestream media would report that?

[Woody]

 All but one Democratic Prez has been a lawyer, that explains alot. The Republican Prez are from several walks of life. Most rich people, Doctors, Big Oil, Ceo's,  they take care of the rich, Democrats take advantage of the poor, while expanding govt to help them. We need a whole new party, People! Both have been comprimised, vote them ALL out.
They make more laws for lawyers to make money defending people from all these new laws.  Surgeons make more money cutting on you. The media makes more money on the chaos. They are trying to "pandemic" us into this corner.   
 They don't have the money for Medicaid and Medicare or your Pensions, they spent it and stashed the rest overseas.  So now, you poor, betrayed, and looted citizen, line and take your shots or we will hold you down and inject you. RUN! 

First they cause the problem, then they encourage public out roar, so they can slide in with their solution, more power.

[tombogan03884]

All but one Democratic Prez has been a lawyer, that explains alot. The Republican Prez are from several walks of life. Most rich people, Doctors, Big Oil, Ceo's,  they take care of the rich, Democrats take advantage of the poor, while expanding govt to help them. We need a whole new party, People! Both have been comprimised, vote them ALL out.
They make more laws for lawyers to make money defending people from all these new laws.  Surgeons make more money cutting on you. The media makes more money on the chaos. They are trying to "pandemic" us into this corner.  
 They don't have the money for Medicaid and Medicare or your Pensions, they spent it and stashed the rest overseas.  So now, you poor, betrayed, and looted citizen, line and take your shots or we will hold you down and inject you. RUN!  

First they cause the problem, then they encourage public out roar, so they can slide in with their solution, more power.

In general I agree with you but you are wrong in condemning the Republicans for "taking care of the rich". When was the last time a poor person gave you a job ? Granted it's a trite cliche but it strikes to the heart of the matter, every time the business profits tax is decreased collected tax revenue GOES UP. The reason is that a lower tax burden increases the available capital for investment which leads to more jobs , therefore more tax payers, which also, by lowering the number of unemployed DECREASES the expense of Unemployment benefits.