Medical Insurers Gouge Their Clients

As they say in Hollywood, the Nevada issue in “Physicians Fold Under Malpractice Fee Burden” (March 4) is deja vu all over again.

In 1975, my major project as public relations counsel for the California Trial Lawyers Assn. was to counter the insurance industry/medical profession’s joint assault on medical malpractice cases. The campaign was launched by the carrier that issued most of the liability policies, which suddenly and without prior notice began increasing premiums fourfold and more.

Today’s headlines are eerily familiar. The insurer blamed premium increases on excessive jury verdicts for outrageous, unwarranted claims. By the time we obtained documented proof that the real reason for the premium gouging was the fact that the insurer had sustained heavy losses the previous year in a stock market plunge and was seeking to restore its financial reserves, the Legislature had been hornswoggled into passing the medical malpractice reform act, which put a cap on awards.

Now, I read that the Nevada insurer that is rocking the boat is believed to have suffered heavy losses in Enron stock (March 5). Coincidence?

Roger Beck

Chino Hills