OLYMPIA – Malpractice payouts against doctors are not driving wild insurance-rate increases, contrary to the message of a physician-led initiative campaign, the state insurance commissioner says.
The Washington State Medical Association disagreed and said Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s study of closed claims against doctors left out too much information.
The study released Tuesday updates a 10-year survey launched last year, which compiled data on closed malpractice claims from the five largest insurers of physicians and surgeons in Washington.
State insurance analysts said the survey shows the number of malpractice claims against doctors increased by 3.5 percent per year, while the average amount paid for claims grew by 3.2 percent.
It also showed that more than 60 percent of payments to patients were for less than $100,000, with fewer than 50 of the 10,200 closed cases over 10 years being paid $1 million or more, officials said.
The data help reveal that expensive claims aren’t pushing malpractice rates out of reach but that “there’s been a growth over time that’s been constant and quite predictable,” Kreidler said. “It certainly flies in the face of those who say we’ve got to change the legal system because we’re in crisis.”
The last “crisis” in malpractice rates peaked in 2001 and 2002, driven by national and global factors, Kreidler said. His chief actuary, Lee Barclay, said rates have decreased in Washington in recent years.
“Really, we’re not seeing the kind of double-digit rate increases that we were a few years ago,” Barclay said.
But the state medical association, which is leading one campaign to alter Washington’s malpractice system, said Kreidler was ignoring a significant share of data.
The study does not evaluate malpractice trends for self-insurers or for high-risk doctors, including those in some specialized fields, medical association chief executive Tom Curry said.
“Due to all the study’s self-admitted limitations and incomplete data … I question why the study was released in the first place,” Curry said in a statement.
Curry said high-risk physicians not included in the survey are important to measure because they would presumably generate the most claims, and the highest awards.
Kreidler’s office could not compile a more comprehensive set of data because it does not regulate all of those fields, officials said.
The medical association is supporting Initiative 330 in this fall’s election. The measure would cap non-economic “pain and suffering” jury awards in malpractice cases and limit lawyers’ fees, and institute other changes.
A rival measure, Initiative 336, does not have caps. It would set up a state-run supplemental malpractice insurance program and allow for doctors’ licenses to be revoked after three adverse malpractice verdicts in 10 years. It is supported mainly by lawyers.
The two sides have raised millions of dollars, and the campaign is likely to be the costliest of its kind in state history.
Kreidler is opposed to both initiatives, which he calls “fatally flawed.” He prefers to have the Legislature address the issue and wants more authority to gather data about malpractice trends.
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