Probably by now most people have read or heard on the news that malpractice insurance rates are going to go up by 14 percent in New York state. This will make it difficult for Auburn physicians and our local hospital to continue to offer the services we want to provide.
What is malpractice insurance? It is the insurance purchased by doctors, hospitals and other health care providers to protect them in the event that they are sued for any type of medical negligence. Patients seem to understand that some of what they are paying for in health care costs has nothing to do with making a person better, but is paying for physicians and facilities to have malpractice insurance.
If you are the patient, you want your doctor to have malpractice insurance. It means if there is ever something done wrong in your care, you have some means of being compensated. However, it also means that you pay much higher amounts for your direct health care costs and for your own insurance premiums. If you are a physician, you want to have malpractice coverage so that in the event you are sued, you can not be personally liable and your family cannot lose things like their home and car.
So if everyone agrees with the need for malpractice insurance, why is there talk about a crisis? It is the amount of money that is involved. Doctors in specialties such as obstetrics and neurosurgery are paying up to $300,000 in insurance premiums. Do these physicians make more mistakes? No, but they practice in high-risk professions, and no one in the United States likes the idea of poor outcomes. As a society, we have come to expect perfect results despite the fact that doctors are dealing with fallible human bodies. Such huge insurance premiums are causing doctors to retire early or give up high risk procedures. Many obstetricians are completely giving up obstetrics and just doing gynecology, a field where the insurance premiums are not quite as high. It is also going to be harder and harder to attract qualified American students to train for 13 to 15 years beyond high school and have little income when they finish.
Medical malpractice is not only hard on health care providers; it is hard on the malpractice insurance companies as well. Because of high judgments in malpractice cases, they have been forced to pay out significantly more in claims than they collect in premiums. This has caused companies to stop underwriting malpractice insurance and often leaves only one or two companies for an entire state to share all the insurance burden.
The cost of going to court is higher in the United States than in any other country in the world. Also, the average award in a medical malpractice case won by a patient has gone from $2 million to $3.9 million in a five-year period. However, very few cases are actually won by the patient. Many filed lawsuits are either frivolous or simply the result of working with sick patients who are going to have poor outcomes with the absolute best of medical care.
How can the “crisis” be helped? One way is through a cap on noneconomic damages (things like pain and suffering). California did this almost 30 year ago. It has allowed patients to still have recourse where there is true negligence, but has markedly decreased the amount health care providers must pay for their medical malpractice insurance.
The rise in malpractice rates will hit all Auburn physicians and Auburn Memorial Hospital. What can you do as a patient? Think about the issue of tort reform (limits on award, limited payments to attorneys rather than patients). Consider your mindset in seeing your doctor. If something is not right, discuss it with your doctor ... not your lawyer. It is usually not negligence that produces a bad outcome. Doctors need also to be involved. Joining the state medical society to work on this issue is vital.
Also, doctors must always practice the best medical care possible. Be open and honest with your patients. They know when something isn't going right. Good communication has been found to be the best way to head off legal intervention if results of medical care are less than perfect.
I contend that our American medical system as a whole is in crisis. Health insurance premiums are skyrocketing. Many people are underinsured or uninsured. Emergency departments are being forced to close. Malpractice insurance is only one part of the big picture. We all, patients and doctors alike, need to be working together and listening closely to those we vote into office. The health care of our nation should be one of the leading issues for candidates in upcoming elections. Learn where our politicians stand and make them answer the hard questions our citizens are facing today. We need to maintain the greatest health care system in the world right here in the United States of America.
Dr. Deborah Geer is a general surgeon with a special interest in breast surgery. Reach her at 253-4536.
If you are the patient, you want your doctor to have malpractice insurance. It means if there is ever something done wrong in your care, you have some means of being compensated. However, it also means that you pay much higher amounts for your direct health care costs and for your own insurance premiums. If you are a physician, you want to have malpractice coverage so that in the event you are sued, you can not be personally liable and your family cannot lose things like their home and car.
So if everyone agrees with the need for malpractice insurance, why is there talk about a crisis? It is the amount of money that is involved. Doctors in specialties such as obstetrics and neurosurgery are paying up to $300,000 in insurance premiums. Do these physicians make more mistakes? No, but they practice in high-risk professions, and no one in the United States likes the idea of poor outcomes. As a society, we have come to expect perfect results despite the fact that doctors are dealing with fallible human bodies. Such huge insurance premiums are causing doctors to retire early or give up high risk procedures. Many obstetricians are completely giving up obstetrics and just doing gynecology, a field where the insurance premiums are not quite as high. It is also going to be harder and harder to attract qualified American students to train for 13 to 15 years beyond high school and have little income when they finish.
Medical malpractice is not only hard on health care providers; it is hard on the malpractice insurance companies as well. Because of high judgments in malpractice cases, they have been forced to pay out significantly more in claims than they collect in premiums. This has caused companies to stop underwriting malpractice insurance and often leaves only one or two companies for an entire state to share all the insurance burden.
The cost of going to court is higher in the United States than in any other country in the world. Also, the average award in a medical malpractice case won by a patient has gone from $2 million to $3.9 million in a five-year period. However, very few cases are actually won by the patient. Many filed lawsuits are either frivolous or simply the result of working with sick patients who are going to have poor outcomes with the absolute best of medical care.
How can the “crisis” be helped? One way is through a cap on noneconomic damages (things like pain and suffering). California did this almost 30 year ago. It has allowed patients to still have recourse where there is true negligence, but has markedly decreased the amount health care providers must pay for their medical malpractice insurance.
The rise in malpractice rates will hit all Auburn physicians and Auburn Memorial Hospital. What can you do as a patient? Think about the issue of tort reform (limits on award, limited payments to attorneys rather than patients). Consider your mindset in seeing your doctor. If something is not right, discuss it with your doctor ... not your lawyer. It is usually not negligence that produces a bad outcome. Doctors need also to be involved. Joining the state medical society to work on this issue is vital.
Also, doctors must always practice the best medical care possible. Be open and honest with your patients. They know when something isn't going right. Good communication has been found to be the best way to head off legal intervention if results of medical care are less than perfect.
I contend that our American medical system as a whole is in crisis. Health insurance premiums are skyrocketing. Many people are underinsured or uninsured. Emergency departments are being forced to close. Malpractice insurance is only one part of the big picture. We all, patients and doctors alike, need to be working together and listening closely to those we vote into office. The health care of our nation should be one of the leading issues for candidates in upcoming elections. Learn where our politicians stand and make them answer the hard questions our citizens are facing today. We need to maintain the greatest health care system in the world right here in the United States of America.
Dr. Deborah Geer is a general surgeon with a special interest in breast surgery. Reach her at 253-4536.
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