New Jersey Doctors’ Strategy Email #2
<!-- excerpt --><p>Read second email outlining doctors' tactics to divert attention from the real cause of the malpractice "crisis"</p>
Insurance
Med Mal Caps Won’t Solve Insurance Hikes
<p class="source">Connecticut Law Tribune</p>
<p>It became apparent that caps did not succeed in lowering insurance rates, since just the opposite occurred. Punishment for insurers was swift and severe. In 1988, California voters passed Proposition 103, which rolled back and severely regulated insurance</p>
C.L.U.E. (Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange) Irks Consumer Groups
<p class="source">National Underwriter</p>
<p>Consumer advocates complain that some insurers are using the C.L.U.E. database to aggressively non-renew or sell at high prices in the tight insurance market.</p>
Pain vs. premiums: Who will pay the price in malpractice debate?
<h3>Doctors say soaring insurance rates drive them out of high-risk specialties; patients argue lawsuit limits would leave some vulnerable to substandard care.</h3><p class="source">The Seattle Times</p>
<p>Jennifer Rufer is a young woman from Spanaway who lost her childhood dream of becoming a mother when doctors, misdiagnosing her with cancer, cut out her uterus and part of a lung and dosed her with chemotherapy.</p>
Texas Legislature Launches Heated Debate On Medical Malpractice Reform.
<p class="source">The Bulletin Frontrunner (Texas)</p>
<p>Harvey Rosenfield of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights told a House panel that limiting damages to $250,000 would probably not solve the insurance crisis that Texas physicians want lawmakers to address.</p>
Panel tackles cap on damages;
<h3>High cost of medical malpractice insurance in Texas sparks debate</h3><p class="source">The Dallas Morning News</p>
<p>The Texas Legislature formally launched debate Wednesday over whether to place a cap on medical malpractice lawsuit judgments...</p>
Pain at the pump
<h3>The specter of war and other factors send gas prices soaring</h3><p class="source">Sacramento Bee</p>
<p>The current price "is not based on the actual supply available today," said Jamie Court, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica. "This is basically wartime profiteering by oil companies."</p>
Critics say bill won’t lower premiums
<h3>MALPRACTICE: Texas State Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Lewisville, and Rep. Joe Nixon, R-Houston, offer legislation to end "lawsuit lottery" by capping damages.</h3><p class="source">Fort Worth Star Telegram</p>
<p>Harvey Rosenfield of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights told a House panel that limiting damages to $250,000 would probably not solve the insurance crisis that Texas physicians want lawmakers to address.</p>
Avoid simplistic solutions to the malpractice crisis
<p class="source">New Jersey Star-Ledger</p>
<p>Malpractice reform must leave us with a system that will do right by those who are harmed by mistakes, negligence or malpractice. It should reduce not only premiums and lawsuits but malpractice.</p>
Malpractice insurance: no simple solutions
<p class="source">Miami Herald</p>
<p>California's malpractice insurance rates continued to increase despite the 1975 limit and didn't drop until voters passed a 1988 ballot initiative that mandated rollbacks on premiums.</p>
Doctors have put a cap on the truth
<p class="source">New Jersey Star-Ledger</p>
<p>The demonstrating doctors have been playing a catchy but monotonous and thoroughly misleading tune about malpractice.</p>
MedMal ‘Crisis’ Hill Action Heats Up, But Divisions May Send Issue To States
<p class="source">Insurance Chronicle</p>
<p>The issue of medical malpractice liability insurance premiums heated up in Washington last week as hearings on the issue were held in both houses of Congress and various special interest groups jockeyed to make their case to lawmakers.</p>