Tort Reform or Insurance Company Gouging?

PATIENTS' RIGHTS -- ANOTHER HOLE IN THE "TORT REFORM" ARGUMENT
American Progress Action Fund
July 7, 2005

While on the campaign trail, President Bush railed against it. Conservatives in Congress used it as an excuse for their tort reform legislation. Yet another study, this time conducted by the Center for Justice and Democracy, has concluded that the high price of medical malpractice insurance has little to nothing to do with malpractice payouts. In fact, over the past four years, "net claims for medical malpractice paid by 15 leading insurance companies have remained flat over the last five years, while net premiums have surged 120 percent" and the increase in premiums "was 21 times the increase in the claims they paid."