Hollywood, FYI, for those trying to get to the referenced article, the remainder of the URL is; "not_due_to_lawsuit_awards/”
I also noticed that towards the end of the article there are claims of contradictions to Dartmouth's conclusions, which I've pasted below. To me the bottom line is this; there are no doubt many other reasons why premiums continue to rise, but I think there is also no doubt that there are far too many frivolous lawsuits with awards that are incredibly disproportionate to the offense. While many of the most outrageous are actually hoaxes, supposedly created by the tort reform crowd, there are more than enough verifiable cases to support the need for reform. *** Quoting from the www.boston.com website; ''We don't think this study will have much effect because there are too many other studies that contradict it," said Dr. Donald Palmisano, past president of the medical association and a surgeon in New Orleans. He said other studies have found that doctors' malpractice premiums increased more quickly in states without caps on pain and suffering, bolstering the group's position that caps are a solution to the problem. Dartmouth researchers drew their data from the National Practitioner Data Bank, to which insurers are required to report payments made on the behalf of physicians. The physician insurers association as well as the federal government have criticized the data bank because payments to hospitals are not reported -- unless a payment also was made to a doctor in the case. Because of this, Chandra acknowledged, his study could have slightly underestimated payments. Dr. Barry Manuel, ProMutual's chairman and a surgery professor at Boston University, said that study's authors also did not account for the rising cost of defending malpractice cases. Last year, ProMutual paid $97.4 million to settle claims, plus another $20.5 million to defend unsuccessful claims and $11 million to defend claims in which the patient was successful in winning a monetary settlement or award. ''What we've seen at our company is there's been some moderation in frequency of claims but the severity continues to rise," Manuel said. On Aug 8, 2:06 pm, Hollywood <[email protected]> wrote: > Zeb, > > This article published in The Boston Globe in June 2005 seems to be > typical. > http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2005/06/01/rising_docto... > > "Re-igniting the medical malpractice debate, a new study by dartmouth > College researchers suggests that huge jury awards and financial > settlements for injured patients have not caused the explosive growth > in doctors insurance premiums. > The researchers said a more likely explanation for the escalation is > the medical malpractice insurance companies have raised doctors > premiums to compensate for falling investment returns". > > And the economy in June 2005 was in great shape compared to today. > > On Aug 8, 12:17 pm, Zebnick <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Whatever you find that you think supports your assertion is fine with > > me. I'm not a defender of insurance companies. I think its impossible > > that they are not at least part of the problem. > > > On Aug 8, 11:47 am, Hollywood <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Zeb, > > > > Give me time to research it a bit and I'll be happy to. However, what > > > definition of "greed" will you agree on? Does me no good whatsoever to > > > research without that. You'd simply say "well, that just business, not > > > greed". How about this? How about if I show you market areas where > > > payouts for medical malpractice suits have DECREASED yet premiums > > > still continue to INCREASE? Let's set the ground rules first, then > > > I'll play. > > > > On Aug 8, 9:58 am, Zebnick <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > >One factor in huge medical malpractice insurance premiums is >greedy > > > > >insurance companies. How come no one wishes to > > > > >address that? > > > > > Well, you brought it up, why don't you address it? What facts and > > > > figures that you have verified show a huge disparity between insurance > > > > premium payments and payouts in malpractice lawsuits? > > > > > On Aug 8, 9:59 am, Hollywood <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > Richard, > > > > > > There are doubtlessly many, many areas within healthcare where savings > > > > > can be achieved. One factor in huge medical malpractice insurance > > > > > premiums is greedy insurance companies. How come no one wishes to > > > > > address that? > > > > > It's a "frivilous" lawsuit when a judge or a jury SAYS it is, not > > > > > before. > > > > > > On Aug 7, 7:30 pm, RichardForbes <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > Hollywood - > > > > > > > One of the places where there can be real cost savings wrung from > > > > > > the > > > > > > system is regarding the malpractice area. At present, huge > > > > > > malpractice insurance policies are funded through the costs of > > > > > > procedures. In addition, the risk management often results in > > > > > > procedures that do little but innoculate the doctors. Tort reform > > > > > > is > > > > > > not designed to excuse incompetent doctors, but rather to end > > > > > > frivilous lawsuits. I am certain that you under estimate how much > > > > > > this adds to healthcare costs. It would shock you. > > > > > > > On Aug 7, 5:13 pm, Hollywood <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > jgg, > > > > > > > > I seriously doubt that Health Care reform will eliminate > > > > > > > stupidity and > > > > > > > incompetence within the health care field. > > > > > > > > On Aug 7, 3:42 pm, jgg1000a <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > > I will listen because I can't... How can I take Obama and the > > > > > > > > Democrats serious about the seriousness concerning Health Care > > > > > > > > reform > > > > > > > > without Tort Reform??? Or perhaps will I be reported to the WH > > > > > > > > snitch line for actually expecting a debate on issues > > > > > > > > surrounding > > > > > > > > Health Care???- Hide quoted text - > > > > > > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > > > > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
