THE MYTH OF CAPS ON DAMAGES

The November 22, 2004 Chicago Sun Times contained an excellent editorial on the subject of capping damages. The editorial, a rebuttal to an earlier column in the Sun Times, was drafted by Daniel M. Kotin and Daniel S. Kirschner, two trial attorneys with Corboy & Demetrio. Their article raise several important points:

1) First, contrary to popular legend, the number of doctors in Illinois is not decreasing, but increasing. According to Illinois statistics, there are 9,000 more doctors in Illinois today than there were in 1994;
2) Physician flight from less populated areas is nothing new - it has been going on for some time and will likely continue even if caps are put in place. Doctors who practice in high risk areas are drawn to urban areas where they make more money;
3) Over the last several years jury awards have increased at approximately 6%(lower than the annual rate for medical inflation), while malpractice premiums have increased 66%. So where does all that money go if it isn't paying verdicts? Into the pockets of the folks who run the insurance companies. Consider that from 1995 to 2002 ISMIE, Illinois' largest medical malpractice insurer recorded a total profit of $25.1 million dollars. In 2003 ISMIE had a profit of $19.8 million, after raising doctor premiums 35%. And ISMIE was doing that to policy holders even though they paid out less money for malpractice awards in 2002 than they did in 1992. Wonder if the folks at ISMIE show those numbers to their policyholders?
4) The number of medical malpractice cases in Cook County is down approximately 24% from 2003.

In closing, the article points out that caps isn't going to reduce malpractice premiums and isn't going to bring back doctors who have left the state. The insurance industry is the house that needs cleaning.