A skilled pickpocket does not just take your wallet; he directs your attention elsewhere. When you notice you have been robbed, you blame someone else.
Insurance companies and their industry spokespeople are similarly skilled at misdirection. Doctors are understandably angry about the high price of malpractice insurance premiums – and patients are angry about the high cost of health care – at a time when insurance companies are reaping enormous profits. But lest this anger be directed at the insurers themselves, and result in action to regulate the insurance industry, spokespersons for the industry are quick to point the finger somewhere else. High premiums, they say, are the result of too many lawsuits and “skyrocketing” medical malpractice payouts. The problem with this argument? Medical malpractice payouts have actually decreased in recent years.
