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Luntz Watch: Frivolous Claims About Lawsuit Abuse

[Influential conservative strategist Frank Luntz has produced a 160-page playbook to advance the right-wing agenda. Think Progress cuts through the spin and gives you the tools you need to fight back. Check here for updates throughout the week.]

From “key communication point” number nine on Lawsuit Abuse Reform:

You must always explain how and why lawsuit abuse is driving up the cost of healthcare.

Good advice, if only it were true. From yesterday’s New York Times:

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For all the worry over higher medical expenses, legal costs do not seem to be at the root of the recent increase in malpractice insurance premiums. Government and industry data show only a modest rise in malpractice claims over the last decade. And last year, the trend in payments for malpractice claims against doctors and other medical professionals turned sharply downward, falling 8.9 percent, to a nationwide total of $4.6 billion, according to data compiled by the Health and Human Services Department.