Medical Malpractice Litigation Not a Contributor to Health Care Costs

Medical Malpractice Litigation Not a Contributor to Health Care Costs

A new study finds that medical malpractice lawsuits are not contributing to the rising cost of health care. The study was put out by the Zurich, one of the leading insurers of hospitals and health care organizations across North America. It shows that the number and amount of claims made are decreasing.Data from 1,600 hospitals were collected from 1997 through 2007. The results of the study have surprised many. For example, the number of medical malpractice claims, determined by comparing the number of occupied beds to the number of legal claims filed, is in decline. Currently, the claim frequency is 1.96 claims per 100 Occupied Bed Equivalents, or the number used to measure hospital occupancy.In addition to the number of medical malpractice claims, the Zurich report examined the severity of such claims. The report shows that over the past 11 years, the amount asked for in a medical malpractice claim has remained restively stable.The nature of health care institutions depends on the severity of claims they receive, says the report. For example, for-profit and government health care institutions have very similar claims; however, non-profit hospitals have the lowest severity of claims. Within the non-profit hospitals, church-based health care institutions had a 30 percent lower average severity of claims. A separate study in August 2010 released by Thomas Reuters found, "Catholic and other church-owned systems are significantly more likely to provide higher quality performance and efficiency to the communities served than investor owned systems" or "secular not-for-profit health systems."." However, the Zurich report cautions that they cannot correlate the higher-quality of care shown by the Thomas Reuters' study and their findings.Critics claim that malpractice lawsuits contribute to the increasing cost of health care by increasing doctors' insurance premiums. They can add to unnecessary and expensive tests and services. Congress would like to reform the way medical malpractice lawsuits are regulated, but many claim that since the number and severity of medical malpractice claims are down, reform would not do much to curb the rising cost of health care. These reforms would only cut down on health care spending by $11 billion, or five percent. It is estimated that the United States spends about $2.4 trillion dollars a year on health care. This number is small compared to the national debt which is currently at $13.8 trillion dollars.

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