ATLA PRESIDENT TODD A. SMITH LETTER TO THE EDITOR REGARDING ROLL CALL'S STORY ABOUT NEW ADS

"Roll Call's story about the trial lawyers' new ad campaign [ATLA's Answer to Shark Ads: Alligators' 4/5/05] was an informative piece of reporting marked by one lapse in accepting phony numbers from the HMO and insurance industry. The Alliance of Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) was allowed to repeat its ridiculous claim that 'the medical liability system costs each U.S. household up to $1,200 a year,' an amount 'four times more than what the federal government spends on homeland security,' without any evaluation of the accuracy of this unsupportable claim. That's unfortunate because AHIP's claim is demonstrably untrue and has been widely debunked. Despite all the talk of a 'malpractice crisis,' the New York Times has reported that malpractice claims actually dropped 8.9% last year, to less than $6 billion. That comes out to about $20 per person, less than Americans spend on dog and cat food each year, and strikingly small considering 100,000 Americans die every year because of preventable medical errors. ....How could AHIP get it so wrong? The Tillinghast- Towers Perrin 'study' they cite to justify their bogus number has been thoroughly discredited. Business Week editorialized that the study 'includes everything from payouts for fender-benders to the salaries of insurance industry CEOs. It's a wild exaggeration.'" Todd A. Smith, ATLA President, Roll Call, 04/06/2005