Malpractice Report Comes Up Short

Tort reform will likely be on the state legislature’s agenda again this year when it reconvenes in January.

Last year the Joint Tort Reform Subcommittee said a data collection system was needed. The state Department of Commerce and Insurance recently released the first annual accounting of medical malpractice premiums and payouts. The report’s only major conclusion is that almost all malpractice cases are settled.

Vanderbilt medical malpractice researcher Gerald Hickson, says there are problems with the data. The damage awards aren’t broken down by type which he says is important when contemplating limiting pain and suffering damages, but not reimbursements for medical expenses.

He also says there’s a problem with comparing the 327-million dollars in premiums collected from doctors and institutions last year, with the only 136-million dollars insurance companies paid out in damages and legal fees in the same period.

“And so one of the challenges you have is that what you pay out today often relate to things that happened in 1995 as an example. The insurance premiums that are being collected today go in part toward losses in the future and that is what has made this so challenging to help understand what is really going on.”

Committee co-chair Rob Briley says the report is helpful because it’s more information than lawmakers had before. Briley says the report doesn’t seem to support the contention that excessive jury awards are causing the increase in malpractice premiums.

“If it’s not driven by the claims history, it’s got to be driven by something else. And the only place I know of to look is the insurance industry and trying to figure out why they would feel compelled or justified in raising rates in the way they have if the claims history doesn’t support that kind of action.”

The Tennessee Medical Association, a lobbying group representing physicians around the state, has been pushing to cap non-economic damages in medical malpractice suits at 250-thousand dollars.