More Reports on the Cost of Torts

President Bush's speech earlier this week in Madison County, Illinois, (see below) has kept attention focused on the cost of medical malpractice insurance and on proposals to modify the tort liability system.  Each side in this battle has its favored method for calculating how much current approaches are or are not costing.  Here are two more recent contributions to the argument:

Ted Frank at PointofLaw.com accuses David Brock's Media Matters for America [MMFA] of mis-reporting when MMFA accuses the Washington Post of mis-reporting:

MMFA complains that the Post discussed the debate over whether malpractice reform would reduce malpractice insurance rates without resolving it.  MMFA contends that the question isn't debatable: the Bush administration is wrong.  Why?  MMFA quotes the [Congressional Budget Office] on health insurance rates.  Unfortunately, doctors can't get malpractice insurance by buying health insurance.

Meanwhile, Business Insurance magazine reports on Tillinghast's 2004 update of its annual review of U.S. tort costs.  Among the findings:

• Tort costs grew by 5.4% in 2003, slightly greater than the 4.9% growth rate of the economy as a whole.  This is a lower rate of growth than was seen in 2001 and 2002.  "The U.S. tort system cost $246 billion in 2003, which translates to $845 per person, or $35 per person more than in 2002. This compares to a cost of $12 per person in 1950 (not adjusted for inflation)."

• "Over the last 50 years, tort costs in the U.S. have increased more than a hundredfold.  In contrast, overall economic production (as measured by GDP) has grown by a factor of 37 and population has grown by a factor of less than two."

• "Since 1975 (the first year for which insured medical malpractice costs were separately identified), the increase in medical malpractice costs has outpaced
  increases in overall U.S. tort costs.  Medical malpractice costs have risen an average of 11.8% per year, compared to an average annual increase of 9.2% per year for all other tort costs."

• "While it is impossible to accurately predict future increases in tort costs, it
  does seem reasonable to assume that, without sweeping structural changes to
  the U.S. tort system, annual increases will be in the 5% to 8% range for the
  next several years.  At this rate of increase, tort costs could approach $1,000 per U.S. citizen by 2006 -- representing a new quadruple-digit benchmark."

Quotations are taken from the executive summary; all italics are in the original.  The full report, with an expanded discussion and numerous charts, is available through Tillinghast's site in PDF format.

Update [01/10/05]:  Also at PointofLaw.com, more on the Tillinghast report, with reaction from the Washington Post, posted by James R. Copland.