Malpractice Impact Challenged; Premiums Inflated, Group Claims
Denver Post
October 11, 2002

Insurance companies have exaggerated the impact of malpractice claims to increase doctors' premiums, according to a study released by a consumer group Thursday.

Industry representatives denied the claim by the Americans for Insurance Reform, a nonprofit organization formed to force changes in the insurance industry, according to the group's website.

'It's a fantasy to suggest that medical legal costs are somehow unrelated to medical malpractice insurance rates,' said P.J. Crowley, vice president of the Insurance Information Institute in New York City.

Once adjusted for inflation, insurance company losses linked to malpractice payments have remained stable over the last 30 years, according to the study. So, there is no truth to insurance and medical industry claims that an explosion in jury awards has fostered an escalation in physician premiums in some states, the study said.

Medical insurance premiums do not correspond to company payments during the 30-year study period, said J. Robert Hunter, director of insurance for the Consumer Federation of America, who conducted the study.

Instead, changes in the nation's economy trigger increases and drops in premiums, he said.

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My data includes everything, the million-dollar judgments and the cases where they don't pay anything,' Hunter said.

Since early this year, 10 states, including Nevada and Pennsylvania, have seen malpractice premiums skyrocket. The galloping premiums have chased some doctors from Nevada, said Alice Molasky-Arman, Nevada insurance commissioner.

For a copy of the complete article, contact AIR.