Although I support tort reform in general, I am not convinced it's the driving force, or even the majority of the problem. A good while back, I read a report on the high cost of Malpractice Insurance, and not surprisingly, only the doctors that had many claims against them, were the ones facing unusually high insurance premiums.
A larger problem has to do with mandated minimum coverage. Different states have different minimum required coverage, and logically, states with high minimums, often have much higher premiums.
The same thing can be seen with Auto insurance, between here and Canada. In Canada, Auto Insurance is nationalized, and at the same time requires a minimum of $1,000,000 in coverage. Of course, Canadian auto insurance is often double or triple the monthly premium here, even in locations that allow private auto insurance.
That said...
Tort reform is important. Right now, we have a system that some call the "Legal Lotto". Because often people team up with lawyers, to file frivolous law suits against anyone they can, in hopes of scoring a hit. They have nothing to lose, and a chance at gain.
The simplest answer, is a loser pays all system. Currently, if I make up that Top Gun damaged my car, he would have to hire an legal counsel to fend off my lawsuit, and at the end would end up losing thousands of dollars just to have a trumped up, law suit, tossed out of court.
Under the loser-pays-all system, the person who lost such a faulty law suit, would have to pay for the court costs, and the expenses of dependent against his BS suit.
The problem there is, the law isn't perfect, and nor is the judgments of the court. Conceivably a person with a justified law suit, could lose, and then end up worse than before. However... at the rate things are going, it may well be better than the injustice of extravagant frivolous law suits we currently enjoy as a society.
