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June 27, 2003
 GAO 03-702: Medical Malpractice Insurance
The GAO studied the extent of increases in medical malpractice insurance rates. It analyzed the factors that contributed to the increases. It then identified changes in the medical malpractice insurance market to determine if this time period under examination differed from other periods.
The GAO studied larger insurers in seven states. Premium rates have increased, but not uniformly between insurers. GAO could not fully analyze the cause of losses due to a lack of comprehensive data from insurers.
Losses on medical malpractice claims was determined to be the primary driver of rate increases. Losses for the industry have shown an ongoing upward trend, however insurers losses have varied in the seven states examined. Other factors that influence rates: insurance company investment income or adjustments for losses may influence the cost of malpractice insurance; a long lag between premium collection and claim payouts requires that if a trend of increasing losses becomes apparent, large rate hikes may be needed.
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