State's Attorneys Investigate Price Gouging By Insurance Companies
The State's Attorney of Connecticut and Missouri recently announced that they would investigate the inexplicable spike in insurance premiums for medical malpractice insurance. Recent reports filed in each states' respective insurance departments show that premiums charged to doctors have increased dramatically within the last five years, while total payouts have actually decreased in the same time period. For example, Healthcare Indemnity Company, one of the larger malpractice insurers, raised rates by 173 million while payouts decreased by 74 million.
It is figures like these that caught the state's attorneys' attention. Connecticut state's attorney Richard Blumenthal sums the problem up nicely:
The numbers underscore the need for much tougher, more aggressive oversight to prevent and punish profiteering. Federal and state regulators should thoroughly scrutinize recent rate increases and take appropriate corrective action. Affordable medical malpractice insurance is critical to public health. Expensive insurance rates become a matter of life and death when they drive doctors out of business - as is happening in Connecticut and nationwide. Insurance company greed can be hazardous to our health.
You find more information about the investigations here.