Medical Malpractice Costs

Medical malpractice insurance has become more expensive over the last ten years, after being stable for a while. Rate increases were brought on by the growing size of claims. Among the other factors driving up prices was a reduced supply of available coverage as several major insurers exited the medical malpractice business because of the difficulty of making a profit. The insurance industry has been seeking a cap in overall rewards by juries in compensation for injuries received through medical malpractice. Premium increases may be moderating but for there must be reforms in the liability system need to occur, industry observers say. Medical malpractice occurs when there is a failure or delay to diagnose a disease which standard medical practice would have diagnosed. It could involve an accident in a surgical operation or an anesthesia used in an operation. Or the doctor may have failed or refused to use a procedure or treatment necessary to treat a disease. Other cases involve dangers or problems with drug therapies that were not disclosed to patients, causing injury or death to patients.

Medical malpractice is a big problem, but it is also a very expensive problem for doctors and insurance companies. Some think that up to 80,000 people a year die because of bad or no diagnosis of diseases. However, these statistics are based on autopsies; it may or may not have been possible to find the medical problem while the person was alive. It is believed that only a small percentage of medical malpractice victims file lawsuits. The Harvard School of Public Health found that about 12-percent of patients who were victims of malpractice file law suits. However, to actual file a malpractice suit can take a lot of investigative work. You need to get the necessary medical records. Fewer medical malpractice claims are being filed but the dollar amount of each claim is steadily increasing. Studies by insurance companies in 2005 found that medical malpractice claims in dollar amounts are still growing at 7.5-percent a year, but the number of individual claims has declined. For the first time in the history of the report the frequency trend indicates a one percent decrease in claims for both hospitals and physicians. Four states, Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida and California, that are leading the decline in frequency have each enacted some form of legislative reform that has limited the amount of non-economic rewards, such as for pain and suffering, that patients can receive.