LATEST GAO REPORT DENIES MEDMAL CRISIS; AMA AND OTHER CAP ADVOCATES MISLED PUBLIC, LEGISLATORS, MEDIA...EVEN DOCTORS

The latest report of the non-partisan General Accounting Office, the research arm of Congress, proves that the supposed "crisis" of access to medical care as a result of medical malpractice insurance premium increases-as alleged by the American Medical Association (AMA), the insurance industry, and some politicians-doesn't exist, or has been extremely overblown.

The report had been requested by three Republican leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives. The comprehensive analysis suggests that the AMA, which had sought to delay release of the report until it could influence the data, misled the American people, state and federal legislators, the news media and even doctors.

"We determined that many of the reported physician actions and hospital-based service reductions were not substantiated or did not widely affect access to health care."

Conclusions of the August 2003 GAO Report on Medical Malpractice

1. There is no medical malpractice crisis. In its study of five states without major tort reforms, the report concludes that the doctors have wildly overstated their case.

2. The report was "commissioned" by the proponents of tort reform, who clearly wanted the GAO to buttress their case, but this independent report actually undercuts it.

4. The report strongly supports the case that there are lots of reasons for the few problems of access to care the GAO could confirm, while the AMA blames everything on medical malpractice litigation. (p. 13).

5. The GAO is extremely skeptical of the claim that the tort system encourages unnecessary defensive medicine.(p. 26-27).

6. The report consistently emphasizes that the surveys upon which the AMA bases its claims have a low response rate and thus "preclude the ability to reliably generalize the survey results to all physicians" (p. 38).

7. It emphasizes that, to the extent that premiums or claims are lower in cap states than non-cap states, multiple factors are responsible-which is the same conclusion as the first GAO report.

For more info please see our page on the "phony Medical Malpractice crisis" or click on this link for a study on the real truth about medical malpractice caps. Please also write to your state Representative and your US Senator.

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