Editorial: Insurers are rightly a focus of scrutiny

Tuesday, April 8, 2003 | 8:50 a.m.

Last year a special session of the Nevada Legislature capped most kinds of jury awards in medical malpractice cases, an attempt to rein in what doctors said was the culprit behind skyrocketing malpractice premiums. But the special session didn't address what role the insurance companies played in the crisis and what reforms should be adopted to the state's regulation of the insurance industry. Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, has introduced legislation that would address the omission.

Buckley's bill would require the insurance commissioner to refuse rate hikes if insurers have committed fraud, insured physicians who had multiple malpractice claims against them, or if the companies are found to have been mismanaged. The issue of a company's management is important: Should doctors suffer because an insurance company was poorly run? Insurers, which had significant investments in the stock market, suffered losses following the recession that began in 2001. Insurers raised premiums to help recover some of their losses -- just as they have done in previous recessions.

The insurance industry is the most important player in the crisis involving medical malpractice premiums, but it's the one that hasn't been included in possible remedies. It's good to see the Legislature finally address the problem in its totality.