Malpractice verdicts not to blame for rising insurance premiums, study says
Associated Press
March 10, 2005

Large medical malpractice verdicts and settlements were not to blame for a rapid increase in insurance premiums for Texas doctors and hospitals, according to a study to be released Thursday.
 
The report by law professors at the University of Texas at Austin and elsewhere comes two years after Texas lawmakers and voters approved strict caps on malpractice damages. Congress now is considering similar limits.
 
Supporters of the caps say they are needed to rein in runaway insurance premiums and health care costs. They are disputing the study's findings.
 
Texas lawmakers and voters implemented a $250,000 cap in 2003 on non-economic damages such as pain and suffering in malpractice cases. California and other states have similar caps.
 
The study, which looked at malpractice claims paid out by insurance companies from 1988 to 2002, concluded that premium increases weren't caused by payments to patients or their lawyers.
 
"The tort system is a steady sea, not a threatening storm, let alone a tidal wave," said David Hyman, a professor of law and medicine at the University of Illinois. "There is just not much going on that could drive these premium increases."
 
The study found that the number of malpractice payments under $25,000 fell sharply from 1988 to 2002, and the number of payments greater than $25,000 stayed stable.
 
It also found that median jury verdicts in trials won by patients were for $300,593 in 2002, about the same as in the 1990s.

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