Due to an ever-increasing number of frivolous malpractice cases being filed as well as the increasing size of jury awards, medical malpractice insurance has become a dominant problem for healthcare providers in the United States. The public's misconception of the severity of the impact on doctors and hospitals prevents them from seeing the bigger picture. The lack of media coverage on the subject has made the public grossly unaware as to how serious this problem has become. The rise in medical malpractice insurance not only adversely affects doctors and hospitals, but the quality of care available to patients as well.
Recently medical malpractice premiums have skyrocketed. "The cost of malpractice insurance for specialists has risen more then 10 percent in recent years and could increase by an average of 20 percent or more this year. States without limits on non-economic malpractice damages are experiencing the sharpest increase v/s 30-50 percent." ("HHS Calls for National Malpractice Legislation"). This actually may be severely underestimated.
"By some estimates, as many as 86 percent of medical malpractice claims filed in the state of Texas are dismissed without payment to a patient. Yet doctors and insurance companies must spend millions of dollars defending themselves against baseless claims" (Gov. Perry, Rick). Adding to this are the multimillion-dollar awards that are given out by juries, which drive up the premiums. Those awards force insurers out of the malpractice insurance market. The insurers that stay in the malpractice market are forced to raise rates in order to try and protect themselves in the future. The St. Paul Cos. is said to be "the nations second medical-malpractice insurer", yet it withdrew from the malpractice market because the company found it was paying "$1.80 in defense costs for every $1 collected in premiums", causing the company to lose over one billion dollars in one year.
The issue on medical malpractice is one that is gaining momentum by the day. ... Medical malpractice is rampant throughout the world. ... Army of a Medical Malpractice Case. ... "Liability for Medical Malpractice.... " Medical Malpractice, 57.3 (2009): 1-29. 2015...
Well the debate is clear, should the United States government impose a $250,000 cap on medical malpractice claims? ... For my part in the group presentation I argued there should be no medical malpractice cap. ... The CEO for the leading medical malpractice insurance company, St. ... These days the American Medical Association (AMA) likes to claim that medical malpractice awards are skyrocketing because of what they are calling "jackpot justice," which is the label given to some of the amounts received by victim's of medical malpractice, but in all actuality government data shows that med...
Medical malpractice premiums are escalating and taking a huge bite out of doctor's income. ... Medical malpractice occurs in a subject of injuries that directly result from provider's negligence. ... The result they found was that only 1 out of 7.6 cases of medical error result in a malpractice claim. ... Mangan, tackles the issues of malpractice problems faced by medical-students. ... Second question was what proposals they have to lower medical malpractice insurance rates. ...
Medical malpractice suits are a very hot topic in our society. ... Medical malpractice suits have changed the world of medicine upside down. ... These suits have even led to talk's of a nation wide medical malpractice claim cap. ... Medical malpractice cases settle for lots of money, and we pay that money. ... The debate of medical malpractice suit is one that is not over. ...
Medical malpractice insurance covers doctors and other professionals in the medical field for liability claims arising from their treatment of patients. Initially there was very low occurrence of doctors who were sued in the 50's, 60's and 70's, due to malpractice. Malpractice insurance was optional to purchase and a lot of doctors did not chose to carry it. ... Over the years there were laws introduced by attorneys that made medical malpractice insurance mandatory. ... At this point the purchase of malpractice insurance is extremely expensive to the physician. ...
Recently, a number of malpractice suits have been filed against physicians over a short period of time. ... Bush made a proposal to limit the amount of malpractice awards to $250,000 per patient. ... Only in case of an emergency should a doctor not be slapped with malpractice suits. Of course you think that accidents happen, but most malpractice cases are more that just accidents. Malpractice suits are continuously being filed, for the most part against the same doctors. ...
The Impact Of the Liability System on Medical Care The medical malpractice liability system has two main purposes(1). ... In theory , the existing medical malpractice liability may or may not provide physicians with the incentive to take the optimal level of precautions. ... Many physicians and policy makers agree that the incentive costs of the malpractice system, due to the extra tests and procedures ordered in response to the perceived threat of a medical malpractice claim may account for a substantial portion of the explosive growth in health care costs. ... Re...
This is despite the pressing medical need. ... Healthcare organizations do differ from others countries when it comes to medical care. ... The modest body of scholars on patients traveling to China, India, and Pakistan for organ transplants suggests that financial gain out of transplantation surgeries substantially increases morbidity and mortality rates". (10) The advantages of medical tourism is lower labor and living costs, the availability of inexpensive pharmaceuticals, and the low cost or absence of malpractice insurance allow many developing countries to offer some procedures at ...
