By Allen Shirley

Globe guest columnist

Last October, I published a column in The Joplin Globe documenting three failed attempts involving the states of Maine, Massachusetts and Tennessee and their efforts to implement “Obamacare” in their states.

Since 1993, these three efforts did not reduce health care costs (all three states saw significant increases) nor did they sustain benefits (with all three being forced to reduce benefits and institute rationing to avoid bankruptcy).

Now it’s time to examine a state that went the “free market” approach and concentrated on the issues that are really driving up health care costs. In 1993 (the same time that the Obamacare model was instituted in Maine), the state of Texas implemented laws that shielded health care providers from trial lawyers “anxious to make a quick buck.”

Texas capped noneconomic damages at $250,000 per defendant, or up to $750,000 per incident, while placing no cap on more easily determined economic damages, such as lost wages or costs of medical care due to injury. This ended the practice of allowing baseless but expensive lawsuits to drag on indefinitely, requiring plaintiffs to provide expert witness reports to support their claims within four months of filling suit or drop the case.

So what were the results of these changes? Almost immediately, all major liability insurers cut their rates upon the reform’s passage, most of these cuts ranged in the double-digits. Just as important, more than 10 new insurance carriers entered the Texas market, increasing competition and further lowered costs to consumers. As a result, Texas doctors have seen their insurance rates decline by an average of 27 percent.

The number of doctors applying to practice medicine in Texas has skyrocketed by 57 percent, and at a time when many states are concerned about having enough doctors, Texas has seen its number of doctors leap by about 15,000. Tort reform has brought services to critically underserved, predominantly minority and poor communities as well.

The number of obstetricians practicing in rural Texas is up by 27 percent, and 12 counties that previously had no obstetricians now have at least one. The statistics show major gains in fields like orthopedic surgery, pediatrics, neurosurgery and emergency medicine. Yet, according to Texas Gov. Rick Perry, tort reform has had additional benefits to patients.

Where has the money gone that used to go to defending all those frivolous lawsuits? It can be found in investments for upgraded equipment, expanded emergency rooms, patient safety programs and improved primary and charity care.

Further, according to the Texas Academy of Family Physicians, tort reform has resulted in an improvement in the quality of health care in Texas. Additionally, the percentage of complaints about medical care has actually gone down statewide.

Yet, despite the overwhelming evidence of tort reform benefits in the nation’s second most populous state, this simple, basic and essential component of health care reform is completely missing from Obama’s health care plan supported by his liberal “willing accomplices” in the U.S. Congress.

But why, you ask, would Democrats in Congress and the White House refuse to even look at these tremendous cost savings to a health care bill they are in lock-step to support?

According to opensecrets.org, Democrats received more than $178 million from lawyers’ donations during the 2008 election cycle, which was three times what they donated to Republicans. What is astounding is that more than $43 million went to the Obama campaign alone.

Democrats constantly complain that Republicans are in the “back pocket” of insurance companies, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment suppliers, just because they can see through this plan as a government takeover of individual free choice.

Yet, their party is “in bed” with one of the greatest causes of reduced care and rapid increasing costs involving health care expenses.

Why else would a political party and a president refuse to even consider a system that has been proven to work in Texas by controlling frivolous lawsuits? I can think of 178 million reasons why. Can’t you?

Allen Shirley lives in Joplin.