He’s right. This is exactly what’s wrong. Missouri enacts a cap during the last “crisis” and rates are still climbing rapidly. This doctor pays her premiums regularly all her career, and based on one claim, her insurance skyrockets. Why did she have insurance in the first place?

There’s something definitely wrong there. And it ain’t the law. It’s the way doctors are being played every insurance cycle.

And here’s the truth about Missouri, according to the former insurance commissioner:

“For example, Missouri has collected data every year since the mid-1980s, when the legislature enacted a law requiring malpractice carriers to submit data on each claim. So Missouri knows the number of claims filed each year, the number of claims closed each year, and the average payment per claim. There’s been a general downward trend in Missouri since 1986, which was particularly pronounced between 2000 and 2001. Closed claims went down by 19 percent, filed claims went down by 36 percent, and the average payment per claim also went down substantially.
So what do you think happened to malpractice insurance rates in 2002? They went way up. Obviously the fact that they went up after filed claims, closed claims, and [average] payments per claim went down indicates that the large jump in malpractice rates cannot be related to litigation.”

It’s weird how physicians, inntelligent men of science, have such faith in everything the AMA and insurers tell them. Why the unquestioning loyalty, Kevin?