Malpractice Reform Won't Lower Costs
Charleston Daily Mail
January 14, 2003

I respond to Dr. Richard Kerr's column, "Cap non-economic damages," in the Jan. 8 Daily Mail.

Restricting the ability of medical malpractice victims to obtain compensation for horrible injuries such as loss of a limb, permanent disability, disfigurement and a lifetime of pain and suffering will do nothing to lower insurance premiums in West Virginia because the legal system is not what's driving up rates.

A recent study by our organization shows that the real reason medical malpractice rates have fluctuated so dramatically in the state, and indeed around the country, is market forces -- not, as the insurance industry claims, because of a sudden massive increase in medical malpractice jury awards or payouts.

By increasing premiums, insurers are forcing hospitals, doctors, and ultimately patients, to suffer for their poor business and investment decisions.

The only way to solve this problem is for state regulators and state lawmakers to reform the business and accounting practices of the insurance industry, which continues to blame others for its own mismanagement by manufacturing a crisis for surgeons and other doctors that simply should not exist.

Rebecca Hoffman
Brooklyn, N.Y.

Hoffman is organizing director for Americans for Insurance Reform.