A new study by the Congressional Budget Office determined that comprehensive legal reform would reduce the total national health-care spending by $11 billion in 2009.

The CBO concluded that legal reform could impact health-care costs both directly – by lowering premiums for medical liability insurance – and indirectly – by reducing the use of diagnostic tests and other health-care services "when providers recommend those services principally to reduce their potential exposure to lawsuits."

The latest CBO findings reflect new evidence that suggests that lowering medical malpractice costs does tend to reduce the practice of defensive medicine.

The study concluded that direct cost reductions would amount to 0.2 percent, while indirect cost savings would amount to 0.3 percent. The study also takes into account the fact that a considerable portion of costs savings has already been realized as many states have implemented legal reforms.

PA Chamber members have long advocated that legal reform be part of the health-care reform debate, arguing that no dialogue on reform can be complete without addressing the cost drivers of health care, which includes lawsuit abuse.

And finding ways to lower health-care costs is a competitiveness issue for Pennsylvania's job creators, who are finding it increasingly difficult to afford coverage for valued employees.

According to the PA Chamber's 19th Annual Economic Survey, 93 percent of respondents listed health-care costs as a deterrent to job creation and business growth, with 73 percent of that number calling escalating costs a "major" deterrent.

Conversely, legal reform is also a competitiveness issue for business, as high legal costs paid by Pennsylvania employers stunt economic growth and job creation, and the costs of unnecessary litigation and unbalanced jury awards result in higher costs to consumers for products and services.

Lawsuit abuse reform will continue to be a top priority for PA Chamber members, both as a way to foster economic growth and as a way to improve the nation's health-care delivery system.