Higher malpractice premiums for doctors in Texas are not caused by so-called “frivolous lawsuits” that many proponents of tort reform raise their voices about. A medical malpractice study released in early 2005 showed that from 1998-2002, and taking into account inflation and population, many legal factors showed no time trend in affecting medical malpractice insurance premiums.
Among the more interesting points:
In 2002, payouts to patients were about $515 million (in 2002 dollars), while Texas health care spending was about $93 billion, so payouts on insured claims equaled 0.6 percent of health care spending.
