[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 17756]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    INSURANCE COMPANIES RESPONSIBLE FOR HUGE MALPRACTICE INSURANCE 
                     PREMIUMS, NOT INJURED PATIENTS

  (Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, today the House will vote on 
legislation Republicans claim will help doctors and help reduce the 
cost of health care. As a family doctor, I know their rhetoric could 
not be further from the truth.
  Republicans say that capping what an injured patient can receive in 
compensation is a cure-all to our health care woes, but they ignore one 
essential fact, that it is the insurance industry, not payments to 
patients, that is chasing doctors out of their offices.
  A report released in May shows that the 15 leading malpractice 
insurers increased their premiums on doctors by 120 percent. No 
surprise there. What is surprising is that the insurance companies' own 
documents show that payouts over this same period stayed flat, 
increasing by less than 6 percent, and some companies' payouts went 
down.
  This just confirms what every reliable study has shown: There is no 
explosion of malpractice claims or payouts. They are not the cause of 
rising premiums. It appears insurance rates are the major problem.
  The Republicans refuse to talk about insurance reform. There is not 
one word in H.R. 5 about the insurance industry. Rather than really 
addressing the problem, Republicans would rather limit the rights of 
injured patients.
  Vote ``no'' on H.R. 5.

                          ____________________