What Insurance Companies Don’t Want You to Know About the High Cost of Medical Malpractice Insurance in Illinois

For years, the sound bites haven’t changed.  Insurance companies flood the media with news that doctors can’t afford to practice medicine in Illinois and that medical costs are skyrocketing because of medical malpractice litigation.

We do not dispute that medical malpractice insurance premiums are outrageous.  However, we strongly dispute the rest of the claims made by the insurance industry. Let’s carefully look at some of those disputes:

The Argument that Medical Malpractice Claims are the Cause of Insurance Premium Increases is False

The following graph represents the rise in insurance premiums imposed by ISMIE, the largest medical malpractice insurance provider in Illinois, between 2000 and 2004. Insurance company premiums were up by more than 70% in that five year period.

As insurance premiums were rising, and insurance companies were blaming that rise on the cost of medical malpractice cases, the number of medical malpractice cases that resulted in payouts from ISMIE in Illinois actually dropped, as represented in the graph below.

The number of medical malpractice cases in Illinois has continued to decline over the years.  In 2009, there were 25% fewer medical malpractice claims filed in Illinois than there were in 2003.

The Argument that High Settlements and Verdicts are Driving Up Medical Costs is False

The argument goes that high settlements and verdicts make medical malpractice insurance more expensive and makes it financially difficult for hospitals and doctors to do business in Illinois. However, the average settlements for medical malpractice cases in Illinois have not risen in recent years and several independent studies indicate that medical malpractice claims have little to no effect on health care costs.

The Argument that Doctors are Leaving Illinois Because of High Insurance Costs is False

The number of doctors licensed to practice medicine in Illinois has increased every single year in Illinois since 1963.  That increase includes high risk specialists such as OBGYNs and neurosurgeons.  Further, the amount of the increase in doctors is impressive and exceeds all 13 of Illinois’ neighboring states. Thus, the data does not support the claim that doctors are leaving Illinois because of high insurance costs or large numbers of medical malpractice claims.

So, What is Driving Up the Cost of Medical Malpractice Insurance Premiums?

Two things are primarily driving up the costs of medical malpractice insurance: insurance company greed and the bad business decisions of insurance companies.

Here is a simple picture of what is happening in Illinois.  Insurance payments for medical malpractice claims are remaining flat while medical malpractice insurance rates are increasing significantly which means that insurance companies are making record profits.  At the same time, medical malpractice insurance companies have made unwise investment choices that have caused them to raise insurance premiums to make up the lost money.

Thus, the Illinois medical malpractice lawyers of Dolan Law Offices believe that medical malpractice premiums are a problem, not because of medical malpractice claims or recoveries, but because of insurance company greed.

Illinois Medical Malpractice Lawyers Fight for Just Recoveries

We do not believe that it is right to punish medical malpractice victims for the greed of large insurers.  Medical malpractice cases serve two important purposes. First, they reimburse victims for injuries sustained due to the negligence of a doctor or medical facility.  Second, they deter other doctors and medical facilities from being negligent in the future.  For these reasons, we fight hard to ensure that Illinois medical malpractice victims get the just recoveries that they deserve.

*The facts and statistics cited in this article may be found in the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association February 2010 report The Whole Truth About Medical Malpractice and Insurance

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