Its language was previously adopted after an electronic vote by members of the Market Conditions Working Group. But another vote was scheduled after a protest by some consumer advocates who complained of being left out of the discussion.

A voice vote will be used when the report is considered at a session of the Property and Casualty Insurance (C) Committee.

The report examined the troubled medical malpractice insurance marketplace and basically concluded that it's the higher claims costs and increased litigation?not the loss of investment income and the need to make up the loss?that have led insurers to raise premium rates.

It also mentions some doctors leaving certain states or even quitting their profession because of an inability to obtain insurance. The report also alludes that putting caps on non-economic damages in jury awards would be the most effective way to stabilize the marketplace.

When the report was discussed this spring during the NAIC meeting in New York, several consumer advocates pummeled its findings, slamming the report as having hardly any substantial information on insurance topics such as loss control.

Some also criticized the report for glossing over medical malpractice insurers' lackluster investment income, which a number of consumer advocates argued has been a major contributing factor in soaring premium rates.

At this latest NAIC session the issue has become even more heated. One reason for the increased ire from consumer advocates is the use of the electronic voting process. "Consumer groups feel like they didn't have the opportunity to discuss it fully," said consumer advocate Birny Birnbaum, the executive director for the Center for Economic Justice in Austin, Texas.

Mr. Birnbaum added, "I don't understand why they [regulators] are so intent on ramming this report through." He complained that the electronic voting on the final draft didn't give him any opportunity to interact with regulators before they took a vote.

"In the latest version that I saw, pretty much everything we had suggested was rejected," Mr. Birnbaum said. "The executive summary failed on taking a more balanced view. The focus on caps on non-economic damages as the most effective tool to address rates?we pointed out there is no evidence to support that."

From the regulator's perspective, however, it's time to adopt the report and there will be opportunities to make any needed changes in future updates.

"So we will adopt it Tuesday, and we will put it for exposure in front of the whole organization for adoption sometime in the future," said Jose Montemayor, Texas insurance commissioner and the chairman of the Market Conditions Working Group.

"We are at that window, where you have to publish what you have, and in the future update it again," the commissioner said. "It's a good scholarly report, and we will continue to update it in the future." Next, the Market Conditions Working Group and Commissioner Montemayor will turn their attention to homeowners, and the group could soon begin working on a new study examining homeowners/property insurance.