Here's data suggesting that the insurance costs to doctors has more to do with the insurers than because of malpractice lawsuits, the latter of which have declined over time along with a decline in the size of judgments. Caps on damage awards just penalize the victims--no benefit to the medical profession.
>>Medical Malpractice Caps Fail to Prevent Premium Increases,
According to Weiss Ratings Study
Physicians in States with Caps Suffer 48% Increase in Median Annual Premiums Even While Insurers Enjoy Slowdown in Payouts<<
weissratings.com
>>NO LINK BETWEEN CAPS AND PREMIUMS: Vice President Cheney would have Americans believe there is a direct link between the insurance premiums doctors pay and rising health-care costs. Not so. Last year, Weiss Ratings, Inc., an independent financial services analysis company, issued a comprehensive study showing that in 19 states with malpractice caps, physicians suffered a 48.2 percent jump in their premiums. >>Meanwhile, in 32 states without caps, premiums rose by only 35.9 percent. In other words, there is no connection between caps and premium rates. Instead, the premium problem comes from insurance industry pricing practices that gouge doctors. While malpractice payouts actually went down by 8.2 percent between 2001 and 2002, there was no corresponding decrease in doctors' premiums, meaning the insurance industry pocketed the difference. The Des Moines Register points out, "There's simply no correlation between lawsuits and insurance rates. Rather, insurance rates are tied to the climate of the stock and bond market, where insurance companies invest much of their money."
CALIFORNIA CASE STUDY: The state of California put medical malpractice caps in place in 1975. A 1993 study of medical malpractice insurance in California showed the caps had "done little more than enrich California malpractice insurers with excessive profits, at the expense of malpractice victims." According to a study released in California yesterday, damage caps now come at the expense of the most gravely injured.<<
americanprogress.org |
