Malpractice+insurance

=__**Malpractic Insurance**__=

What is Malpractice?
[|Malpractice] is an act or omission by a health care provider which deviates from accepted standards of practice in the medical community and which causes injury to the patient.

**What is its Purpose?**
Since we live in a country with a [|Tort Liability System] if negligence can be proven, then you can sue the negligent party. The purpose of medical malpractice is to provide an incentive for doctors to do the job correctly and avoid more medical accidents. In theory this should work, benefiting all of society.

Malpractice Insurance
Due to the threat of being sued for a potentially large sum of money many physicians decide to buy malpractice insurance. This gives doctors a little extra cushion so that one lawsuit does not ruin them. Recently, though, the median reward of damages from malpractice went from $500,000 in 1990 to 1.5 million dollars in 2000. Due to mainly this reason the premiums have begun to rise so high that many physicians are no longer able to buy malpractice insurance. This leaves a gaping whole where coverage used to be, exposing doctors to financially devastating lawsuits.

Defensive Medicine
Along with buying malpractice insurance many doctors practice [|defensive medicine]. This is either when a doctor performs tests or operations that are not necessary to avoid a malpractice claim, or when a doctor does not perform a high risk procedure due to fear of a malpractice claim. Performing too many tests raises costs which someone must pay. This may help medical care to continue to rise in price. Not performing needed surgery because of malpractice does not help anyone and hurts the chance that a patient will live. It seems the current form of medical malpractice may be working against the quality of health care provided, which is exactly what it was not meant to do.

What needs to be done
Our text says that are all needed to set the malpractice insurance industry right again.
 * Damage caps**: Setting a monetary limit on the amount a plaintiff can be awarded in a malpractice lawsuit.
 * Joint and several liability**: Ensures that monetary damages are awarded based on the defendant's degree of responsibility and not on the ability to pay.
 * Collateral source rule**: Allows the plaintiff to recover the total amount of any award even if he received funds from other sources such as health insurers' or worker's compensation programs.
 * Limits on attorney fees**: Limits the fees charged by plaintiff's attorney.
 * Installment payments**: Allows for damages to be paid over time rather than in one lump sum.

Questions
Question: What type of medicine is practiced to reduce malpractice claims? a. Defensive b. Offensive c. Secret d. Voodo Answer: A. Doctors try to protect themselves by staying safe.

Question: True or False Defensive medicine increases the chance of medical care for high risk procedures. False. Doctors do not want to perform high risk procedures in case they get sued.

Question: Due to the rising costs of malpractice lawsuits there is likely to be a. a surplus of doctors. b. a shortage of doctors. c. no affect on doctors. Answer: B. There will be less doctors because their costs will increase shifting the supply curve to the left.

Question: Due to malpractice there will likely be less brain surgeons or family practitioners in the future. There will be less specialty doctors due to the high risk of malpractice.

Question: Under a Tort Liability system you can be sued if a. someone wants your money. b. you are rich. c. you cause a loss due to negligence. d. your insurance company will pay for it. Answer: C. It can be difficult to prove negligence, but if proven, you can be sued.

Question: To reduce the effect of malpractice claims on doctors and insurers we should introduce: a. damage caps b. limits on Attorney fees c. installment payments d. all of the above. Answer: D. All of these will either reduce frequency or severity of malpractice claims.

Question: True or False: malpractice is an act or omission by a health care provider which deviates from accepted standards of practice in the medical community and which causes injury to the patient. Answer: True. It is the definition.

Question: How would a limit on attorney fees affect malpractice? Answer: It would reduce the incentive for attourneys to sue doctors thus reducing the amount of people they would defend.

Question: What is the effect of increasing damage payments on demand of malpractice insurance? Answer: The premiums are forced up due to increasing costs, which causes less doctors to purchase medical care.

Question: What is the effect of increasing damage payments on adverse selection? Answer: The premiums are forced up driving the safer risks out first and leaving only the high risk doctors.