August “Augie” Wallmeyer, a long-time lobbyist and member of Virginia’s political class, decided in his semi-retirement years to tour the state, with special attention to rural regions that are largely unknown to those who dwell in Virginia major metropolitan areas. In compiling material for his soon-to-be-published book, “The Extremes of Virginia,” he says, he’d “met dozens of people, heard their stories, listened to their dreams, their fears, their hopes, their gripes.”
In a four-part series in the Richmond Times-Dispatch editorial page, Wallmeyer has done a fine job describing the hardships and challenges of Southwest Virginia, Southside and the Eastern Shore. Like a good public policy wonk, he offers a number of suggestions on how the General Assembly can help. For the most part, specific proposals are small-bore, suggesting that he sees no sweeping remedies, no magic bullets.
But one idea struck me as immensely practical: Physicians and lawyers need to figure out how to change the malpractice laws to make it easier for health care professionals to donate their care. Writes Wallmeyer:
Physicians who treat poor and indigent people without charge fear getting sued by their patients, which is one reason very many doctors simply don’t treat the poor. They fear not only lawsuits related to their medical practice, but also being accused of crimes by their patients, some of whom have mental health problems. …
Virginia’s legislature should forcefully insist that the medical and legal communities mutually resolve this problem and then adopt a statute that actually protects doctors from lawsuits when treating poor people, while appropriately preserving the legitimate legal rights of the poor.
Bacon’s bottom line: On this blog, I have highlighted several proposals to improve affordability and access to the health care system for Virginia’s poor that don’t expose taxpayers to the enormous risk of expanding Medicaid. Add Wallmeyer’s idea to the list.
— JAB
