Facts about Medical Malpractice
Health care reform and medical malpractice have become increasingly visible issues in the current political climate. Most health care reform proposals that have been entertained by Congress have included language that seeks to reduce the ability of citizens to seek redress in courts for injuries suffered due to medical malpractice. The popularly accepted reasoning is that malpractice insurers, faced with an onslaught of medical malpractice claims in recent years, must increase the premiums they charge doctors for malpractice insurance to keep up with the ever-increasing claims paid out to policyholders. Indiana medical malpractice law currently caps total damages at $1,250,000 in all cases of malpractice since 1999. The previous cap was $750,000, which was an increase from the original $500,000 cap first established in 1975.
Data provided by the malpractice insurers themselves, however, paints a very different picture. The numbers reported in their Insurance Expense Exhibits by medical malpractice insurance providers to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners revealed that the average profit of the top ten providers was higher than an astonishing 99% of Fortune 500 companies.1
