Proposed malpractice bill stirs support, opposition
Denver Business Journal
February 4, 2008

Lawmakers hope to make health care affordable and available to more Coloradans this session. But local doctors and insurers worry that a proposed bill to raise the caps on malpractice claims could increase medical costs and even drive some physicians out of the market.

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John Sadwith, executive director of the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, noted the caps for non-economic losses have been raised only once since legislators approved the Health Care Availability Act of 1988, which imposed limits on malpractice settlements.

Sadwith said doctors' claims that raising malpractice caps will result in higher health care costs and cause physicians in rural areas to abandon their practices are unfounded.

"A million things factor into [rising health care costs]," Sadwith said.

According to a fact sheet provided by Sadwith, malpractice payments accounted for less than 1 percent of health care expenditures. That number was calculated from the Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

As for the assertion that raising caps would drive high-risk specialists out of the market, Sadwith pointed to a study from the Americans for Insurance Reform that shows there's no direct correlation between rate increases and tort actions.

For a copy of the complete article, contact AIR.