With Tort Reform in the news, I wanted to share this January press release.
Becky

For Immediate Release
January 23, 2003
Contact
J. Robert Hunter, 703/528-0062
Joanne Doroshow, 212/267-2801 or 917/548-5263

NEW STUDY SHOWS AVERAGE MEDICAL MALPRACTICE PAYOUT OVER LAST DECADE ONLY
$28,524;
NEW DATA REVEALS SAME TRENDS IN 2001

New insurance industry data and analysis, released today, shows that the
average medical malpractice insurance payout, or closed claim, has been
only $28,524 over the last decade. Payouts in 2001 follow the same low
pattern. This figure includes all jury verdicts, settlements and other
costs used by insurers to fight claims in court.

Moreover, medical malpractice insurers are paying nothing in 77 percent of
all claims filed; in the 23 percent of cases where insurers pay anything,
the average claim is only $107,587. According to the Harvard Medical
Practice Study, only one in eight malpractice victims ever files a claim
for compensation.

The analysis, conducted for Americans for Insurance Reform (AIR) by actuary
J. Robert Hunter, Director of Insurance for the Consumer Federation of
America, examined insurance data through 2001, the most recent year
available from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and A.M.
Best and Co.
Hunter is former Texas Insurance Commissioner and Federal Insurance
Administrator. He concludes, Despite the hype about exploding jury
awards coming from the insurance and medical lobbies, when one looks at the
data and sees exactly what insurers are paying out in claims, the average
is under $30,000. There has been absolutely no upward trend in medical
malpractice payouts at any time over the last decade.

Moreover, said Hunter, the fact that less than one in four who do file a
claim get any payment shows that insurers are certainly not settling most
claims, and that in cases that do go to trial, juries are cautious in
awarding benefits to people injured or killed by medical errors.

According to Joanne Doroshow, Executive Director of the Center for Justice
& Democracy, These data are another astonishing refutation of insurance
company assertions that medical malpractice verdicts are exploding and
forcing dramatic rates increases. Insurance companies are blaming judges
and juries for the decision to make insurance unaffordable for doctors.
Medical and insurance lobbyists are telling lawmakers that doctors
insurance rates are rising due to increasing claims by patients and rising
jury verdicts. This data shows that such assertions are completely erroneous.

To see a chart of the data in PDF format, click here.

info@...
Americans for Insurance Reform, 80 Broad St., Suite 1710, New York, NY
10004-3307; Phone: 917/438-4608; Fax: 212/764-4298
(AIR is a project of the Center for Justice & Democracy)