Malpractice insurers have a 3-5 year time lag between collecting premiums for this year, and conclusion of trials (and payments) attributed to this year. In the 1st four years of the 21st century, the average awards have skyrocketed to the point that the top ten payments for 2003 were ALL higher than the record payment from before 2000. So, the companies have to A) recover unexpected costs already in the bag and B) "charge ahead" to get a kitty big enough that future costs and increases are covered. Many figure there are better ways to make an insurnace living and drop their malpractice lines completely.
Anti -corporation retoric drives the cost up because juries can be convinced that the hospital and dr won't have to pay anything, it'l all come from the insurance co. Major source of problem is pain and suffering, which can't be easily quantified and so can reach for the moon. Even the most conservative pro Dr. group says they want malpractice victims to get full reimbursement for lost income, medical costs, etc. The real sticking points are punitive and pain and sufering damages.
Trial lawyers' contingencies are based on 1/3 of the AWARD, not even what the patient actually gets. So if somebody's awarded 10million, the lawyer gets 3.3 million even if the patient can't collect part because of bankruptcy, etc.
Dr.'s are a driven bunch, but they burn out. Malpractice crisis will turn into crisi of health care availability, not "patient rights"
