AARP Agrees That Malpractice Lawsuits Do Not Cause Physician Premiums to Rise
In its April 2006 Bulletin the AARP debunks the myth that "Malpractice lawsuits cause doctors' premiums to go up, making health care unaffordable for many people." According to the AARP,
"the real reason for health care inflation is costly new technology. New treatments and tests may be used before there is evidence that they are necessary, resulting in wasted health care dollars. Since premiums account for only about 2 percent of total health care spending, the GAO says, national health costs in general would drop by only 0.4 to 0.5 percent if caps and other proposed reforms were passed."
The AARP reports that medical malpractice reform, and caps in particular, is highly contentious between doctors, insurance companies and business interests on the one hand and trial lawyers and patient advocate groups on the other hand. However,
"many neutral experts who have studied malpractice reform say caps on awards are a Band-Aid on deeper wounds: an inherently unsafe health system, where too many preventable deaths and injuries occur, and a flawed compensation program for its victims."
The AARP goes on to dispell several other Myths doctors and insurance companies have argued in favor of caps on damages. One such myth is that "frivolous lawsuits jam the courts and result in excessive jury awards." The AARP reports as a fact that most suits are withdrawn before they get to court. Eighty percent of the cases with a jury verdict result in no payment for those injured or their families. The AARP also states that there is no evidence of widespread flight of doctors to other states as a result of jackpot verdicts raising malpractice premiums.