Research: Insurance Industry

Insurance Industry is Well Positioned to Keep Its Financial Commitments to Gulf Coast Residents

September 27— According to the Insurance Information Institute, the insurance industry has a record $401.8 billion in surpluses. These surpluses can be used to meet their financial commitments to policy holders affected by Hurricane Katrina in the event the industry exceeds the reserves it sets aside to pay expected claims. Read more.

Falling Claims and Rising Premiums in the Medical Malpractice Insurance Industry

July 7— Researchers found that in the past five years premiums have more than doubled, while claims payments have been stable. In fact, in 2004, malpractice insurers' total premiums were three times higher than their total payouts. Between 2000 and 2004, insurers' net premiums increased by 120%, while net claims payments increased by less than 6%. Read more.

Health Affairs: Insurers Can't Justify Premium Increases with Malpractice Payments

June 1— Researchers analyzing data from the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) have found that medical malpractice payments have grown only slightly over the last ten years and that the total dollars paid has remained consistently under 0.3 percent of national health care spending. Read more.

Insurance Profits Are Booming

The legal rights of people injured through no fault of their own are being trampled, but guess what? The insurance industry is booming. Read more.