Challenges Involved in the Dentistry Field - page 2-3 - proof read

Hi i would really appreciate it if you could proof read the page 2 &3 of my report "Challenges Involved in the Dentistry Field". I would really appreciate it if you could proof read my report and let me know if there are any mistakes or confusing sentences. Please let me know if i should add a comma or semicolon as i always make mistakes there. Thanks a lot.

P.S. the paranthesis is ment for placing my sources.....

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Trends in Liability Claims

As the rate of insurance increases so would the cost of dental care eventually. Factors like incidence and severity of claims, cost involved in severity claims, and treatments and allegations involved in paid claims all affect the rate of insurance. For example, as more people file malpractice claims the more insurance companies will charge for their policies to keep up with the growing cost.

Incidents of Claims

These incidence statistics reflect the claims experience of 12 professional liability insurance companies that together insure 97,416 dentists, of whom, 85% are general practitioners (____)

Incidence of Claims
Year Incidence of claims Incidence of claims Total Incidence
for which that are closed of claims
payment was made without payment
2003 .89% 1.97% 2.86%
2002 .92% 2.25% 3.17%
2001 1.00% 2.37% 3.37%
2000 1.24% 2.64% 3.88%
1999 1.36% 2.60% 3.96%

According to the above table the incidence of claims that are closed without payment show a fall of roughly 0.04% - 0.28% in a given year while incidence of claims for which payment was made show a fall of approximately 0.10% on a given year. And although the total incidence of claims filed between the year ‘99 and ‘03 has fallen from 3.96% to 2.86%, which is a fall of only 1.10% within five years, according to the survey conducted by ADA this percentage is likely to rise as additional claims are reported and those currently filed are settled.

Severity of Claims

These severity statistics reflect the claims experience of 13 professional liability insurance companies that together insure 101,144 dentists, of whom, 82% are general practitioners (____)

Severity of Claims
Year Weighted Average Highest Lowest
2003 $14,458 $30,128 $943
2002 $17,363 $28,000 $2,839
2001 $16,550 $37,795 $4,366
2000 $18,365 $38,688 $2,489
1999 $17,803 $27,000 $1,219

With reference to the above table one might think that the cost involved in malpractice claims is surprisingly low; yet according to the survey conducted by ADA insurance companies often recommend dentist to purchase policies that cover at lest $1 million for a single claim. The reason for insurance companies to recommend such policies is on the chances of a claim being extremely severe. It is also important to understand that the cost involved in the above table also includes attorney fees and the claims for which payment was not made. Although the weighted average and lowest cost appears to have lowered from the year 1999 to 2003 it has lowered in fluctuating manner, therefore it is highly likely that the cost could rise again as additional claims are filed and those currently filed are settled as mentioned in the incidence of claims section. Whereas the highest cost of severity of claims has increased from $27,000 to $30,000 between the year 1999 and 2003.