"There should be some substantial decrease in medical malpractice rates," he said.

The 1985 law gave the Superintendent of Insurance, James P. Corcoran, the power to set malpractice rates.

At the same time comes anguished talk about doctors driven away by skyrocketing malpractice rates and shrinking reimbursement.

That problem has been compounded of late, as shrinking reimbursements and soaring malpractice rates push some radiologists toward easier, and more lucrative, work.

They cited studies attributing the increase in malpractice rates to insurance company practices, not lawsuits.

Remember the decades of rising malpractice rates because so many doctors were being sued?

More recent data has indicated that medical malpractice rates are generally no longer rising.

According to the Medical Society of New Jersey, malpractice rates today are nearly double what they were in 1996.

In 1975, the CMA preserved access to care for many when it forged ahead on a plan to keep medical malpractice rates affordable.

He said the problem was that malpractice rates rose about 50 percent a year until last year, when they were frozen by the State Legislature.