Compensation comparisons

New Zealand “has some good ideas” when it comes to tort reform writes Newsweek blogger Katie Connolly, who uses this country’s government-operated Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) as an example of a system the US ought to consider “within a comprehensive health-care reform package, particularly when the political upside is so evident.” “In the US many patients’ claims fail because they can’t prove negligence. Many Americans harmed during their treatments are simply ineligible for compensation because they weren’t victims of negligence. In New Zealand anyone who has suffers a medical injury, irrespective of whether it was the because of negligence, can receive compensation. They just need to prove a link between their treatment and the harm. New Zealand’s commission is also significantly cheaper to operate than American’s malpractice system. Instituting a commission-type system in the US would increase the number of people receiving compensation for poorly administered care, while decreasing the financial burden on the health-care system.” Following the 1967 ‘Woodhouse Report’ the Accident Compensation Commission was established in 1974 to operate the 1972 Accident Compensation Act, and the 1973 Amendments.