So, are you telling me that I am misinformed Host? Some super elite council of rich white men subsidize and perpetuate a notion that frivilious law suits are the cause that drive up insurance premiums, and it is completely unfounded and false? It's merely a vast conspiracy? I'll believe you, but besides one line referring how in 06' malpractice suits evened out, which does not at all address how they spiked the several years before that, the only other thing your post touched on was these evil white men and their connections, also they fund groups sympathetic their causes
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http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdoc.cfm?index=4968&type=0
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Limiting Tort Liability for Medical Malpractice
The past few years have seen a sharp increase in premiums for medical malpractice liability insurance, which health care professionals buy to protect themselves from the costs of being sued (see Figure 1). On average, premiums for all physicians nationwide rose by 15 percent between 2000 and 2002--nearly twice as fast as total health care spending per person. The increases during that period were even more dramatic for certain specialties: 22 percent for obstetricians/gynecologists and 33 percent for internists and general surgeons.
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The available evidence suggests that premiums have risen both because insurance companies have faced increased costs to pay claims (from growth in malpractice awards) and because of reduced income from their investments and short-term factors in the insurance market. Some observers fear that rising malpractice premiums will cause physicians to stop practicing medicine, thus reducing the availability of health care in some parts of the country.
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Payments of claims are the most significant costs that malpractice insurers face, accounting for about two-thirds of their total costs. The average payment for a malpractice claim has risen fairly steadily since 1986, from about $95,000 in that year to $320,000 in 2002 (see Figure 2). That increase represents an annual growth rate of nearly 8 percent--more than twice the general rate of inflation.
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Although the cost per successful claim has increased, the rate of such claims has remained relatively constant. Each year, about 15 malpractice claims are filed for every 100 physicians, and about 30 percent of those claims result in an insurance payment.(5)
The other one-third of malpractice insurers' costs comprise legal costs for policyholders who are sued and underwriting and administrative expenses. Those types of costs have also increased. Like claims payments, legal-defense costs grew by about 8 percent annually during the 1986-2002 period, from around $8,000 per claim to more than $27,000.(6) In addition, the many malpractice insurers who buy reinsurance to protect themselves from large losses have seen that part of their underwriting costs rise significantly over the past decade.
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Interesting it wasn't an increase in claims, it was an increase in damages...
BUt I'm sure I'm offbase on this, it's probably has nothing to do with anything.