How much have your health insurance rates declined?

June 2, 2007

MySA.com: David Hendricks

When Texas voters in 2003 approved a state proposition capping lawsuit awards for medical malpractice cases, only four insurance companies even offered malpractice policies to Texas doctors.

Now, 30 insurance companies crowd the market, and premiums have fallen like so many San Antonio Spurs playoff opponents. The lower cost of being a doctor in Texas has helped trigger a stampede of applications for physician licenses, with the waiting line now up to 12 months.

Rates have fallen an average of 21.3 percent, and up to 41 percent at one insurance company, says former state Rep. Joe Nixon, a Houston trial lawyer who helped sponsor passage of Proposition 12.

An internal medicine doctor in Houston paid $18,507 for malpractice insurance in 2003 but only $13,272 in 2007, or $10,403 with a 20 percent renewal dividend, according to figures given to Nixon by the state’s largest insurer, Texas Medical Liability Trust.

An obstetrician paid $56,564 in 2003 but only $41,575 in 2007, or $32,585 at the renewal rate. A neurosurgeon paid $103,558 in 2003 but only $76,117 in 2007, or the renewal rate of $59,659.

Before Proposition 12, the state did not impose a cap on the amount of noneconomic damages in a malpractice lawsuit against doctors. Proposition 12 established a cap of $250,000. Malpractice lawsuits have fallen 50 percent, Nixon said, causing some malpractice lawyers to shift to other fields, such as commercial litigation.

Wow! So with all these doctors and insurance companies returning to Texas, I guess it means that even more Texans have access to health insurance. No? Well, at least doctors have been able to reduce their rates, right? Surely the fall off in malpractice lawsuits is because all those who were “abusing” the system decided to stop because of the low pay out rather than individuals not being able to hire lawyers to bring legitimate suits for wrong doing by physicians?

So where are all those benefits of tort reform? Having more physicians return to practice to Texas in of itself is not a benefit It is only a success if it results in some sort of downward pressure on health costs.

So far, all the numbers that are thrown out show that doctors and insurance companies are making money. It’s only taken four years for them to see a benefit from tort reform. How long do the rest of us have to wait?

I suspect by the time people realize that none of these benefits are being passed on to the consumers will be about the same time that people realize that the state is now picking up the tab for caring for individuals who have been harmed through negligence. Not only will the state have to deal with people who have chronic conditions that don’t allow them to work, it will have let the causes of those conditions to continue to function without any consequences.

So when someone starts telling you about all the doctors returning and how great it is for Texas, ask yourself if you have received any benefits from it. Then visit Texas Watch and see who is suffering.

Texas Watch – Taking Action for Texas Families

True Stories of Texans Devastated by Medical Negligence

In 2003, the Texas Legislature erected a virtually insurmountable barrier to the courthouse for families devastated by medical negligence. The following stories are true tales of how the malpractice epidemic has injured these average Texans twice: first when they or their loved one was harmed and again when the radical legal changes enacted at the behest of insurance industry lobbyists stacked the deck in favor of those who harmed her.

Brenda Goode

Killeen, Texas

Brenda Goode lives in Killeen, Texas with her daughter and two granddaughters. She works as a housekeeper at a local clinic. She lost her son Brian due to an entirely preventable medical error. His doctors later admitted that his death could have been prevented.

Cynthia Sledge

Leander, Texas

Cynthia Sledge is a stay-at-home mom and piano instructor in Leander who takes a great deal of pride in caring for her four children. While she was in labor with her fourth child, her elevated blood pressure was not properly treated and she suffered a stroke as a result.

Ernest Dishman

Lubbock, Texas

Ernest Dishman was an oil field supervisor who worked in the oil patch for over 40 years. He was in good health and was far more active than most men his age. He died after a series of preventable medical errors that the county medical examiner described as the worst case of negligence he’d seen in over 20 years.

Sylvia Fuller

Tyler, Texas

Sylvia Fuller lived in Tyler, Texas. Her three children, David, Karen and Clay are grown, and Sylvia was happiest with all of her children around her. She was dearly loved by her family and her friends. She died fourteen hours after being misdiagnosed and discharged in an emergency room.

Millie Koch

Simms, Texas

Millie Koch is a retired nursing home administrator who has worked in the nursing home industry for more than 20 years in both Texas and Florida. She lost both of her parents due to nursing home neglect. Her mother died due to an overdose of potassium and her father died because he was given an antibiotic to which he had a recorded allergy.

Angie Meza

Pflugerville, Texas

Angie Meza is a loving mother to her two daughters. She took her four year old daughter Monica to the pediatrician for the flu. Monica died after a series of devastating, preventable medical errors.

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