Malpractice Awards and Their Consequences
The US Congress is currently reviewing a Republican proposal to cap non-economic medical malpractice awards at $250,000. The Republicans view this as a means to curb excessive awards and their affects on rising malpractice premiums. The Democrats view any limit as an injustice to victims of malpractice.
Let's look at the consequences of large non-economic awards have had in the last few years. Malpractice insurance - on a state by state basis - have continued to spiral up for all doctors in all practices due to the costs malpractice insurance companies feel they have to charge in the current climate. Some doctors have given up their medical practices because of the cost of malpractice insurance. A victim's recouping current and future economic losses is entirely justified. But when it comes to punitive judgments, exactly who is being punished? Not the doctor found to be in error. The malpractice award comes out of the insurance fund that the doctor is in. Those costs are passed on by the insurance companies in the form of higher premiums to doctors. The higher premiums are passed on in the form of costs to patients whose doctors are in the same insurance fund. Ultimately it is the insured general public who pay all malpractice awards through higher insurance premiums and out-of-pocket expenses.
If nothing is done, the availability of doctors to provide medical services will be threatened. No one benefits if medical services are spotty or perhaps even unavailable in some areas. In the name of common sense, non-economic malpractice awards must be capped. Whether its $25,000 or $250,000 logic must be applied to maintain our medical provider systems.
07/20/03 ( 556 )
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