Reform More Important Than Caps

Reform More Important Than Caps

NU Online News Service, March 29, 3:50 p.m. EST?Insurance officials in Philadelphia said the current medical malpractice crisis did not manifest itself overnight and will not be resolved until predictability and stability are brought into the system.[@@]

This was the message delivered by a panel of experts at the annual Ratemaking Seminar of the Arlington, Va.-based Casualty Actuarial Society, held March 11 to 12, in Philadelphia.

Pennsylvania insurance commissioner Diane Koken, who introduced the panel, said that medical malpractice is the most challenging issue today and one that is prone to anecdotal arguments from everyone involved, CSA said.

She said there is a lack of definitive statistics on the issue. In Pennsylvania, some progress has been made, but she added that insurance companies still do not have a stable environment wherein they can underwrite effectively.

With regard to capacity, Linda A. Dembiec, chief financial officer and actuary for Medical Mutual Liability Insurance Society of Maryland, said that unlike 1996, when there were 20 top medical malpractice writers, today there are fewer than three companies left with a "B-plus" or better rating, which puts a great burden on existing capacity.

Joseph F. Roda, an attorney for Roda & Nast, P.C., said that current tort reform discussions focus on caps for non-economic damages. He argued that such caps discriminate against the most severely injured, as well as the poor and retirees, since in these cases the economic loss would be less.

The panelists blamed a flawed system involving Medicare and the medical establishment that needs extensive reform.

Samuel R. Marshall, president and chief executive officer of the Insurance Federation of Pennsylvania, called for regional reforms with special courts and more judicial discretion in order to bring predictability and stability to the system. Caps on malpractice payments could help, he said, but he did not see that happening.