Palin wants tort reform as part of health bill

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) continued her Facebook note campaign against healthcare reform, writing Friday that tort reform is a necessary part of healthcare legislation.

“As Governor of Alaska, I learned a little bit about being a target for frivolous suits and complaints (Please, do I really need to footnote that?)” Palin wrote on her Facebook page.

Paraphrasing former President Bill Clinton, Palin said she feels health care providers’ pain, arguing those companies are targeted by “opportunists and people with no scruples.”

“We cannot have health care reform without tort reform,” Palin insisted. “The two are intertwined.”

Palin posed questions for Obama, a recurring feature in her series of Facebook notes: “Why no legal reform? Why continue to encourage defensive medicine that wastes billions of dollars and does nothing for the patients? Do you want health care reform to benefit trial attorneys or patients?”

Palin’s Facebook notes, of course, set off the debate over so-called “death panels” in regards to end-of-life care in healthcare reform legislation earlier this month.