Study: Economy, Not Legal System, Causes Malpractice Rate Rise
Assocaited Press
February 6, 2003


A study of medical malpractice insurance in Wyoming over the last 30 years links higher premiums to the economy, not lawsuits.

Conducted by Americans for Insurance Reform, the report concludes that the legal system is not to blame for rising premiums doctors pay for coverage. Instead, rates are influenced by the strength of the national economy, or lack thereof, rather than increases or decreases in the amount companies pay in jury awards, settlements or other costs.

The analysis also found that, adjusted for inflation, payouts per doctor dropped in Wyoming from 2000 to 2002.
The study's release comes as the Legislature readies for a debate on a proposed constitutional amendment allowing limits on damage awards in malpractice suits.

Proponents see the amendment as a way to stem skyrocketing insurance costs, which Wyoming doctors say are driving them to retire early or leave the state.

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Joanne Doroshow, executive director of Americans for Insurance Reform, based in New York, said Wyoming has had the same pattern in rates as just about every state the group has examined including states that don't claim to have a malpractice insurance crisis.

"In general, since the 1980s, you see that, unlike premiums, which certainly shot up very high in the mid-1980s and seem to be coming back up again, payouts have been along a certain range," she said.

Insurance companies raise rates to compensate for falling interest rates and investment losses, the report says.

For a copy of the complete article, contact AIR.