Independent actuaries have taken issue with a recent consumer group report charging that medical malpractice insurers have accumulated unreasonable surpluses over the past few years.
Towers Perrin actuaries James Hurley and Gail Tverberg said a study released by the New York-based Center for Justice and Democracy and five consumer groups in July contained "meaningless and unsound" comparisons of paid loss to written premium. Former Missouri Commissioner Jay Angoff took a lead role in writing that report.
A Towers Perrin spokeswoman said an actuarial study rebutting the CJD study was done at the behest of the Physicians Insurers Association of America, but that no fee was charged.
PIAA president Larry Smarr said the Towers Perrin report "has taken a critical step toward setting the record straight and stopping Mr. Angoff and these groups from further misleading the public."
He added that the Angoff report "is a hoax and inappropriately twists the numbers to claim that medical malpractice insurers have increased premiums at a rate more than 20 times to increase payments."
Joanne Doroshow, executive director for the Center for Justice and Democracy, said the group stands by its report, which was drawn from numbers filed by insurers under oath with state insurance departments.
"The response is exactly what one would expect, given the interest of PIAA companies in raising malpractice rates for doctors," she said.
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