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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCanadian malpractice costs kept low
The structure of the maipractice system is one main reason, but the article didn't mention a second very important reason--people sue when they have bad outcomes because they face a lot of extra health care expenses. This does not happen in any other industrialized country because those countries guarantee health care as a human right.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/article1021977.ece
For neurosurgeons in Miami, the annual cost of medical malpractice insurance is astronomical $237,000, far more than the median price of a house.
In Toronto, a neurosurgeon pays about $29,200 for coverage. It's even less in Montreal ($20,600) and Vancouver ($10,650).
Instead of buying insurance from a for-profit company, as most U.S. doctors do, Canadian physicians are covered through their membership in the nonprofit Canadian Medical Protective Association.
Membership fees vary only by the type of work and region of the country. All neurosurgeons in Ontario, for example, pay the same amount regardless of how many times each may have been hit with a claim.
"We don't adjust our fees based on individual experience; it's the experience of the group,'' says Dr. John Gray, the executive director. "That's what the mutual approach is all about, and it helps keep the fees down for everyone.''
Moreover, the association provides legal counsel for doctors who are sued and pays the damages, no matter how much.
MADem
(135,425 posts)Save those charmers down in Florida, that is.
It's not all down to the health care costs.
From the same link:
eridani
(51,907 posts)JoeBlowToo
(253 posts)Malpractice a Tiny Percentage of Health Care Costs
One of the principal myths surrounding medical malpractice is its effect on overall health care costs. Medical malpractice is actually a tiny percentage of health care costs, in part because medical malpractice claims are far less frequent than many people believe.
In 2004, the CBO calculated malpractice costs amounted to less than 2 percent of overall health care spending. Thus, even a reduction of 25 percent to 30 percent in malpractice costs would lower health care costs by only about 0.4 percent to 0.5 percent, and the likely effect on health insurance premiums would be comparably small.
http://www.justice.org/cps/rde/justice/hs.xsl/8686.htm