Report Challenges Greedy Malpractice Insurers Picture

A reinsurance brokerage said that after re-examining data in a report by an attorneys association that medical malpractice rates were artificially inflated, it is disputing those findings.

BMS Group, a reinsurance broker with its headquarters in London, said its actuarial and medical malpractice team reviewed the same figures used in an earlier report and concluded that medical malpractice liability insurance companies "responded appropriately" to the medical malpractice crisis in early 2000.

The report the brokerage is challenging, "No Basis for High Insurance Rates," was written by former Missouri Insurance Commissioner Jay Angoff, reviewing the top 15 medical malpractice insurers. Released by the American Association for Justice in May, the report concluded that insurers artificially raised doctor's rates and misled the public in believing that a crisis existed.

The report was immediately disputed by the president of the Physicians Insurers Association of America, who said the analysis suffered from "shortcomings" (see NU Online, May 29).

BMS' analysis used the same data as Mr. Angoff in his May report and found insurers responded appropriately to the looming medical malpractice crisis.

"The data available to the insurers at the time the 'medical malpractice crisis' began was indeed alarming," said Tony Hill, director and leader of the BMS medical malpractice team, in a statement. "It was so alarming it caused St. Paul to exit this line of business while many other companies simply went out of business."

The report noted that for the combined 10-year period ending in the year 2000, insurers had a combined loss ratio of 140 percent. Since taking appropriate actions at that time, the combined ratio has dropped to 53.2 for 2006.

"Though the prospects of improved financial results for the industry may well lead to a leveling of premiums and heighten the likelihood of dividends to policyholders in 2007, we believe that 'caution' must remain the watchword," said Ray Pate, executive vice president in the medical malpractice team for BMS.

In response to the report, Mr. Angoff said in an e-mail, "The 2006 annual statements make clear that the leading malpractice insurers' incurred loss estimates of just a few years ago have proved to be far too high, and thus it is now clear that the rates they were charging in those years were far too high."

He continued, "Doctors should be able to obtain refunds for the excessive rates they have already paid, but unfortunately most states neither enable doctors to obtain refunds of excessive rates on their own nor authorize the commissioner to order refunds of excessive rates."

Copies of the BMS report are online at www.bmsgroup.com.

(This story was updated Nov. 30 at 9:30 a.m.)