| ftcmj ( @ 2009-07-21 23:47:00 |
Malpractice lawsuits have a negligible effect on health care costs in the US
From: Anderson GF, Hussey PS, Frogner BK, Waters HR.
Health spending in the United States and the rest of the industrialized world.
Health Affairs, 2005 Jul-Aug;24(4):903-14.
Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Department of Health Policy and Management, MD, USA.
...
Role of Malpractice Litigation
Another commonly cited contention is that medical malpractice litigation is driving up U.S. health spending. The authors compared malpractice claims data from the U.S., Australia, Canada, and the U.K., using information from national reports and databases. While the U.S. had 50 percent more malpractice claims filed per 1,000 population than the U.K. and Australia, and 350 percent more than Canada, payments were lower, on average, than those in Canada and the U.K. More important, average payments per capita were only $16 in the U.S. in 2001, compared with $12 in the U.K., $10 in Australia, and $4 in Canada. Including awards, legal fees, and underwriting costs, the total amount spent defending U.S. malpractice claims was an estimated $6.5 billion in 2001, or 0.46 percent of total health spending. [emphasis mine]
...
Free full text of entire article at:
http://sn.im/us-health-spending-vs-othe rs
From: Anderson GF, Hussey PS, Frogner BK, Waters HR.
Health spending in the United States and the rest of the industrialized world.
Health Affairs, 2005 Jul-Aug;24(4):903-14.
Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Department of Health Policy and Management, MD, USA.
...
Role of Malpractice Litigation
Another commonly cited contention is that medical malpractice litigation is driving up U.S. health spending. The authors compared malpractice claims data from the U.S., Australia, Canada, and the U.K., using information from national reports and databases. While the U.S. had 50 percent more malpractice claims filed per 1,000 population than the U.K. and Australia, and 350 percent more than Canada, payments were lower, on average, than those in Canada and the U.K. More important, average payments per capita were only $16 in the U.S. in 2001, compared with $12 in the U.K., $10 in Australia, and $4 in Canada. Including awards, legal fees, and underwriting costs, the total amount spent defending U.S. malpractice claims was an estimated $6.5 billion in 2001, or 0.46 percent of total health spending. [emphasis mine]
...
Free full text of entire article at:
http://sn.im/us-health-spending-vs-othe