A recently published study by four law and economics professors, "Stability, Not Crisis, Medical Malpractice Claim Outcomes in Texas, 1998-2002" (Black, et al) has come under criticism from proponents of med mal liability reform.
Jon Opelt, Director of the Texas Alliance for Patient Access (TAPA), called the study "seriously flawed," claiming the authors "cooked the numbers to the point that they cooked the truth," according to Insurance Journal.
Tom Cotton, President and CEO of the Texas Malpractice Liability Trust, one of the largest providers of insurance in Texas, criticized the study's use of statistical controls for population growth, frequency of visits to healthcare providers, healthcare costs, and the change in the value of the dollar.
"We don't get to adjust the number of claims by some economic value that has no bearing on medical liability insurance or pay today's claims in 1988 dollars," said Cotten, according to Insurance Journal. "So it makes no sense to massage and distort claim counts and payouts for such irrelevant reasons."
The Journal did not indicate if these spokespersons were asked to explain why control for inflation and medical care costs in a scientific study of the relationship between claim costs and insurance prices was "irrelevant" or had "no bearing."
Law Professors' Medical Liability Findings Baffle Texas Health Care Community
See also: "Causes of the Medical Malpractice Crisis?" Unintended Consequences, March 17, 2005.
And: "Market, not costs driving rise in malpractice premiums, says U.Texas study," Unintended Consequences, March 11, 2005.
Posted by dougsimpson at March 28, 2005 08:52 AM