Nice distortion of facts! While it is true that malpractice costs equal 1% of health care expenditures, their impact on premiums is much greater.
No doctor pays malpractice settlements themselves, they hire insurance companies to do it. Those insurance companies charge the doctor a premium (in California, its about $10,000 per year, and that's below the national average) and this cost is passed onto consumers. This cost is also greater than the value of court settlements. Court settlements may only equal 1% of premiums, but the cost of medical malpractice insurance is much greater. The doctor pays a premium that must ultimately cover not only the insurance payout, but also the operating cost of an insurance business and leave some extra for insurance company profits.
In short, jfern's stats are bunk.
