Despite New Law, Doctors’ Insurance Costs Up
Columbus Dispatch
February 16, 2004

Nearly a year after limits were clamped on medical malpractice lawsuits in Ohio, doctors are still waiting for the legislative medicine to work.

State insurance officials expect malpractice premiums to rise another 30 percent this year, similar to the increase for 2003. That's considered progress given rate hikes that were two or three times higher in previous years.

Last April, over the objection of trial lawyers and some consumer advocates, two laws took effect aimed at slowing the skyrocketing rates. One capped jury awards in medical malpractice cases at $350,000 per plaintiff or $500,000 per occurrence for noncatastrophic damages such as pain and suffering, and at $500,000 per plaintiff or $1 million per occurrence for catastrophic damages such as loss of a limb.

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Trial lawyers are opposed to caps and don't think they're justified. One study by Americans for Insurance Reform found that medical malpractice payouts have remained constant since the mid-1980s.

"We never agreed that capping damages for the most catastrophically damaged Ohioans was an appropriate or effective way to deal with . . . rates," said Richard Mason, executive director of the Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers.

"Instead, we urged the legislature to focus efforts on reducing incidents of medical malpractice in the first place and reforming the insurance industry."

For a copy of the complete article, contact AIR.