Tort reform is a popular call-to-action when it comes to healthcare legislation. In general tort reform in the healthcare arena refers to reducing lawsuits or damages related to medical malpractice. Several states have enacted tort reform. No one argues that frivolous lawsuits need to be eliminated; rather the debate revolves around how much attention needs to be devoted to this issue.

First, consider there are costs associated with the litigation process, the awarded damages, and "defensive medicine," which refers to the treatments and procedures that healthcare professionals provide, some say unnecessarily, to avoid lawsuits. The cost estimates vary widely. There are also several approaches to tort reform, including a cap on noneconomic damages, cap on attorneys fees, modification or elimination of joint-and-several liability, revisions to the statute of limitations and cap [more]on punitive damages. These are some of the big ones. People who consider themselves in favor of tort reform may like one or two ideas and reject the others.

Take for example, capping awards on medical malpractice lawsuits. According to the Pacific Research Institute report called Tort Law Tally, capping awards cuts losses an average of 39 percent and annual insurance premiums by 13 percent. Advocates also say that states with caps attract more physicians. However, other economists say liability awards are not what is driving premiums and point to a declining rate of lawsuits relative to numbers of injuries and caps on awards in many states. One Harv[more]ard University economist estimates that the cost of jury awards are about $12 per person in the U.S. -- about $3.6 billion total.

Some policy experts think tort reform itself is a red herring. A Congressional Budget Office report found that, at most, tort liability made up less than one-half of one percent of health care costs. Other reports say that malpractice lawsuits make up one to two percent of the United States annual spending. In addition, some health economists contend that some defensive medicine is a good thing.

Still, even those economists who call tort reform a "distraction" in the healthcare debate admit the system is far from perfect. Tom Barker, author of the book "The Medical Malpractice Myth," has said if people are serious about tort reform, they should improve compensation for moderate injuries.

What do you think? Should tort reform be included in a healthcare bill and if so, in what form? icyou wants to hear your opinion. For icyou, Im Rebecca Fox.