There is no evidence that capping medical malpractice awards – and otherwise undermining the ability of people to sue when they have been injured – will reduce insurance premiums for doctors.

Nonetheless, the U.S. House of Representatives could take up legislation as soon as today that would deny many people the ability to be compensated for their injuries while protecting only doctors who have been found negligent.

A similar effort to cap “pain-and-suffering” awards in Maine failed to gain traction this year, and for good reason. Study after study has shown that factors outside of jury awards have caused the high increases in doctors’ premiums. Despite the evidence, doctors have remained fixated on a plan that is unlikely to help them, and politicians have continued to ride that support.

The malpractice bill that’s being rushed through the House would cap noneconomic awards at $250,000. But it doesn’t stop there. It creates broad liability protection for companies that make and sell defective medical equipment or drugs. And it creates a narrow timeline for patients to prove they have been injured. It would also overrule Maine’s model malpractice system, which has been one factor in holding doctors’ insurance premiums down in the state.

The House has passed similar legislation in the past, only to be thwarted in the Senate, where better sense has prevailed. No doubt, supporters of the measure hope to use the confirmation proceedings for Judge John Roberts Jr. to the Supreme Court to deflect attention from their maneuvers.

They are, however, battling against the facts.

A recent study conducted by former Missouri Insurance Commissioner Jay Angoff demonstrates the folly. Angoff examined the records of 15 medical malpractice insurance companies from 2000 to 2004. He found that malpractice premiums increased 21 times faster than the increase in claims paid. The problem rests with insurance rates, not with jury awards in malpractice cases, which have remained steady for many years.

During the same time period, Angoff found that the insurance companies built up large surpluses, which go well beyond the value of claims they are likely to face.

Medical malpractice insurance premiums are a real problem for doctors. But limiting the ability of people who have been hurt by negligence won’t solve the problem or reduce the overall cost of health care. It punishes the wrong people for the sake of insurance company profits.