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A malpractice crisis that wasn't REGISTER EDITORIAL BOARD March 19, 2007 We haven't been hearing much about medical liability reform from this Iowa Legislature. Thank goodness. In previous years, lawmakers harped about needing to cap "pain and suffering" damages in medical-malpractice lawsuits. The argument was that big awards drive up the cost of malpractice insurance for doctors and force them out of business. Capping damages would lower premiums, reduce the cost of health care and "save doctors," they argued. It didn't seem to matter that there was no proven, causal relationship between damage caps and lower malpractice premiums. It didn't matter that year after year the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ranks Iowa near the top in the country for having a "state liability system" friendly to business. Some lawmakers wanted tort reform anyway. It didn't pass. And guess what happened? The biggest malpractice insurer in Iowa, Minnesota-based MMIC Group, lowered its rates 15 percent this year. According to Julie Stafford, a vice president at MMIC, the reduction is due, in part, to fewer claims being filed against doctors. No tort reform. Lower malpractice premiums. Lawmakers should remember that the next time they get the urge to dust off their tired arguments.
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