Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Doctors may still be paying big bucks for malpractice insurance, but the amount paid out in malpractice awards actually makes up an ever-shrinking piece of health care costs in the United States, according to a new study published by Public Citizen. The study found the fewest number of Americans are receiving compensation from doctor’s mistakes since 1990, when the federal government’s National Practitioner Data Bank began compiling malpractice statistics.
In the report The 0.6 Percent Bogeyman, the public interest group states “between three and seven Americans die from medical errors for every one who receives a payment for any malpractice claim.” Last year was the third in a row of declining medical malpractice payments.
It is estimated that total health care costs for the U.S. in 2006 were $2.1 trillion—of which malpractice payments represented only 0.6% (or $3.9 billion). The total value of malpractice payments fell even further in 2008, to $3.6 billion.
According to Public Citizen, the majority of medical malpractice payments are awarded to patients suffering the most serious injuries. More than 80% of the money was paid out for cases involving “significant” or “major” permanent injuries, such as death, quadriplegia, brain damage or the need for permanent care.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Medical Malpractice Payments Fall to Record Low (Public Citizen press release)
The 0.6 Percent Bogeyman (Public Citizen) (PDF)
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