Two new trend reports, published by the American Medical Association in its Policy Research Perspective series, show the high costs associated with the current medical liability system.
The first trend report analyzes indemnity and expense payments, claim disposition and policy limits based on a sample of medical liability claims that closed between 2001 and 2010. The report's key findings include the following:
• The average expense of defending a physician against a medical liability claim in 2010 was $47,158, representing a 62.7 percent increase since 2001.
• In 2010, 63.7 percent of all closed claims against physicians were dropped, withdrawn or dismissed. Each of these claims costs an average of $26,851 to defend.
• The average medical liability indemnity payment to a claimant in 2010 was $331,947, indicating an 11.5 percent increase since 2001.
• The share of medical liability insurance policies carried by physicians with limits exceeding $1 million have increased from 28 percent to 41 percent since 2001.
The second trend report analyzes medical liability insurance premiums from 2004-2011. Highlights in the report include the following points:
• Physicians continue to face high costs of insuring themselves against medical liability claims.
• In some areas of New York, premiums for obstetricians/gynecologists reached $206,913 in 2011, showing a 41 percent increase since 2004. Meanwhile, premiums for general surgeons reached $128,542, indicating a 64 percent increase since 2004.
• About 5 percent of premiums increased by 10 percent or more. This is the largest proportion of upward premium changes since 2007, when 8 percent of premiums increased by 10 percent or more.
"Information in the new studies paints a bleak picture of the cost burden caused by excess litigation against physicians and bolsters the case for national and state-level medical liability reforms," AMA President Peter W. Carmel, MD, said in the report.
The first trend report analyzes indemnity and expense payments, claim disposition and policy limits based on a sample of medical liability claims that closed between 2001 and 2010. The report's key findings include the following:
• The average expense of defending a physician against a medical liability claim in 2010 was $47,158, representing a 62.7 percent increase since 2001.
• In 2010, 63.7 percent of all closed claims against physicians were dropped, withdrawn or dismissed. Each of these claims costs an average of $26,851 to defend.
• The average medical liability indemnity payment to a claimant in 2010 was $331,947, indicating an 11.5 percent increase since 2001.
• The share of medical liability insurance policies carried by physicians with limits exceeding $1 million have increased from 28 percent to 41 percent since 2001.
The second trend report analyzes medical liability insurance premiums from 2004-2011. Highlights in the report include the following points:
• Physicians continue to face high costs of insuring themselves against medical liability claims.
• In some areas of New York, premiums for obstetricians/gynecologists reached $206,913 in 2011, showing a 41 percent increase since 2004. Meanwhile, premiums for general surgeons reached $128,542, indicating a 64 percent increase since 2004.
• About 5 percent of premiums increased by 10 percent or more. This is the largest proportion of upward premium changes since 2007, when 8 percent of premiums increased by 10 percent or more.
"Information in the new studies paints a bleak picture of the cost burden caused by excess litigation against physicians and bolsters the case for national and state-level medical liability reforms," AMA President Peter W. Carmel, MD, said in the report.
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