Here the estimated dollars per claim for each year have been adjusted to 2007 dollars to account for inflation, so the values are all compatible. Texas was said to have had a “medical malpractice liability crisis” starting in about 1998 and continuing until the legislature passed tort reforms effective in September 2003, which put caps on certain noneconomic damage awards. During this period premiums increased greatly and doctors left high-risk specialties such as emergency room service and delivering babies, and left high-risk geographical areas as well causing shortages in doctors in certain locations. The data from 1994 until 2001 is the following:
Injury year-Estimated # claims-Estimated $ per claim
1994 -1021 -$415,326.26
1995 -1087 -$448,871.57
1996 -1184 -$477,333.66
1997 -1291 -$490,215.19
1998 -1191 -$516,696.63
1999 -1098 -$587,233.93
2000 -1055 -$536,983.82
2001 -1110 -$403,504.39
Calculate the mean or average number of claims per year for medical malpractice insurance in Texas over the four-year period 1994–1997.