Health Care Insurance Companies Pocket Billions in Profits – Yet They Claim They Are Losing Money
Top Health Care Insurers in the U.S.
|
Company |
2024 Profits |
|
UnitedHealth Group |
$14.4 Billion1 |
|
Elevance Health (formerly Anthem) |
$5.98 Billion2 |
| Cigna |
$3.43 Billion3 |
| Humana |
$1.21 Billion4 |
While changes to the health care insurance industry take shape at the national level, some lawmakers are looking to strip patients of their legal rights to hold the health care industry accountable if they are injured or killed by a medical provider, or a dangerous drug or device. They claim that tort “reform,” a fancy phrase for negative changes to the civil justice system, will reduce so-called “frivolous lawsuits.”
Contrary to popular myth, very few injured Americans file lawsuits. In fact, the number of medical malpractice cases filed across the United States, and here in Illinois, are dropping swiftly and dramatically. Medical malpractice cases make up only a tiny percentage of civil caseloads.5 Here in Illinois, medical malpractice cases are down 39 percent since 2003.6
The fact is, the largest health care insurers are raking in big profits (billions) while charging its customers skyrocketing premiums and deductibles. Denying injured people their constitutional right to a jury trial under the 7th Amendment of the constitution will only further bolster the profits of these giant insurers at the expense of those harmed or killed by due to a doctor or hospitals negligence.
The work of trial lawyers over decades to hold hospitals and physicians accountable when their negligent actions harmed or killed patients has led to substantial improvements in the way medicine is practiced and the development of more rigorous safety protocols that protect patients and prevent negligent acts.
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1 Fortune Magazine. https://fortune.com/ranking/fortune500/?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email-blast&utm_campaign=06022026_B2C_GLBL_Subscribers_Engagement_e2&utm_id=13718929&utm_content=17933849&Name=state+farm
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
5 See “Total Incoming Cases” 2012-2019. National Center for State Courts, “CSP STAT Civil: Trial Court Caseload Overview, Incoming Caseload Composition – Civil,” December 9, 2020, https://www.courtstatistics.org/csp-stat-nav-cards-first-row/csp-stat-civil
6 “Collar County Medical Malpractice New Suits,” Law Bulletin Publishing Company, reflecting filings through 2017 in 21 Illinois counties including: Cook, DuPage, Lake, Kendall, Kane, Madison, St. Clair and Will.
PDF Fact Sheet: Health Care Insurance Companies Pocket Billions in Profits – Yet Claim They Are Losing Money
