Under normal conditions, health insurers and their actuaries would have spoken out vociferously, trying to inject some insuranceprinciples into the debate.
For its principles, the fund drew on tort law, private and government insurance, and welfare, says George Priest, a professor at Yale Law School, but with no consistency and no cap on the amount paid other than Mr Feinberg's sense that Congress did not want a runaway programme.
Mrs Spelman said ministers were "at an advanced stage in intensive and constructive negotiations with the insurance industry" on a deal to come into force when the current statement of principles expires.