The debate over tort reform rarely includes even a cursory look at actual data.
It is often just assumed that malpractice insurance rates are skyrocketing everywhere. While that may be true in some places, it is not true everywhere.
It is reassuring to learn that some public officials still care about the facts. Take Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler, for instance.
According to the Tocoma News Tribune, Kreider has looked to see whether or not medical malpractice insurance premiums have actually skyrocketed in the state:
The doctors say medical malpractice insurance rates are skyrocketing out of control.But Kreidler’s research shows that the average cost of medical malpractice rates, adjusted for inflation, has actually declined for many specialties compared with 1985.
For example, the average malpractice insurance payment for obstetricians was $76,150 twenty years ago, adjusted for inflation.
The 2005 rate proposed by Physicians Insurance, which insures 70 percent of nonself-insured doctors in the state, is $66,419.
For neurosurgery, another high-risk specialty, the average rate went from $88,765 to $86,225.
Kreidler said Physicians Insurance, which is owned by doctors, has proposed a 7.7 percent cut in medical malpractice rates.
“We’re reviewing it to see whether that’s enough, in the face of record profits,” Kreidler said.
“This society, not just in health care litigation but across the board, has become a society of entitlement, a society that has to reach out and blame somebody for everything that goes wrong,” Morse said, adding that he still believes there are legitimate malpractice cases.