This report from the Texas Watch Foundation, The False Choice: Doctors or Accountability; The Real Impact of So-Called Tort "Reform" in Texas, discusses the idea that Texas voters were given a false choice in 2003: lose their doctors or lose access to their courts. The paper instead argues that consumers can, and should, have both strong legal protections as well as access to quality, affordable healthcare. The report explains that heated rhetoric and efforts to keep turnout low by manipulating the election date and ballot language were key in stripping away the right to legal accountability through the courts; even despite the reform, the report argues that rural and indigent areas still struggle to meet their health care needs, insurance companies continue long trends of overcharges, and families devasted by medical negligence have little recourse to holding perpetrators accountable.
