March 24, 2004

More data piles in refuting the bald claims of ATLA and "consumer" advocates that medical malpractice reform is somehow an insurance company conspiracy that doesn't reduce rates. (See Mar. 22 and Jul. 29, 2003). In an actuarial study using the National Practitioner Data Bank, we find, among other interesting things, that (1) dollars paid in malpractice claims went up 80% between 1992 and 2001, even though the number of claims only went up less than 20% in the same period; and (2) malpractice premiums are higher in states without noneconomic damages caps compared to those in states with noneconomic damages caps. (Richard S. Blondi and Arthur Gurevitch, "Noneconomic Damage Caps Help Reduce Malpractice Insurance Premiums", Contingencies, Nov.-Dec. 2003). Contingencies is the journal of the American Academy of Actuaries.