The Benefits Speak for Themselves

Detractors of legal reform can be counted on to release “studies” and “reports” that support why they think legal reform is bad, but what they don’t ever talk about is all of the positive effects legal reform has had on state economies.

Case in point: Texas.

This week, Dr. Thomas Wilder, M.D., a board member of the Bay Area Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, authored a piece in the Corpus Christi Caller-Times looking at the obvious and monumental benefits of legal reform in the state.

Since 2003 – as a result of the sweeping reforms approved by Texas voters – Texas has “more physicians per capita than ever before,” in other words, “Texas has added enough direct care physicians since 2003 to provide 6.4 million more patient visits than would have occurred without these reforms.”

Before reforms were passed, many patients in Texas went without access to health care services. Medical specialists were leaving the state in droves. In the past six year alone, Texas has seen an addition of 218 obstetricians, 48 neurosurgeons, and a 15 percent growth in orthopedists. In addition, the “number of obstetricians practicing in rural Texas has grown by 27 percent” and “emergency services have also expanded with 23 counties adding at least one emergency medicine physician and 18 counties adding their first ER doctor ... ever.”

The numbers don’t lie. Reforms have allowed Texas to change for the better. Dr. Wilder’s piece mentions the similar stories from other states. Check it out.