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Malpractice premiums for physicians stayed mostly the same in 2014, with 65% of liability insurance rates remaining steady nationwide, according to the Medical Liability Monitor’s annual survey and analysis of premiums nationwide.
Ongoing trends of slow lawsuit frequency and low plaintiff payouts are contributing to the steady market, said Chad C. Karls, editor of the 2014 Annual Rate Survey and a principal and consulting actuary for Milliman in Brookfield, Wis.
“We certainly do see those very large verdicts in the industry, but when we take it across all claims, the vast majority don’t have a verdict attached to them,” Mr. Karls said in an interview. “The vast majority get settled. That average claim has remained relatively stable.”
Unchanging insurance rates, however, can mean payment misery or relief depending on where physicians practice. Internists in southern Florida will pay a high of $47,707 for malpractice insurance this year, while their counterparts in South Dakota will pay just $3,697. For ob.gyns., malpractice insurance is priciest in the New York counties of Nassau and Suffolk, where they will pay $214,999 in malpractice premiums this year. But in Central California, ob.gyns. will pay just $16,240. General surgeons in southern Florida will dish out $190,829 in premiums in 2014, while Wisconsin surgeons will pay $10,868.
Premiums did increase in some areas in 2014. Indiana physicians saw the highest increase at 4.5%. Nevada doctors experienced a 34.8% decrease in premiums, by far the largest drop among states. (See map.) Nevada’s average percent change was driven by two companies that reported high rate decreases, the survey noted. (Acquisitions by some Nevada insurers may have affected the numbers.)
In general, Nevada’s large rate decline is not surprising, said Dr. Warren Volker, trustee-at-large for the Clark County (Nev.) Medical Society and chair of Premiere Physician Insurance Company in Nevada. Doctors in the state have experienced a stable medical liability climate for the last decade, he said.
“Our premiums have gone down dramatically, across the board,” Dr. Volker said in an interview. “Physicians have enjoyed cost savings as long as they have a good history.”
He attributed the declines to tort reform passed in 2002, including a $350,000 noneconomic damages cap in medical malpractice cases. Since then, the number of lawsuit filings has gone down and competition among liability insurers has increased, he said.
Legal reforms such as Nevada’s have probably contributed to the overall decrease in lawsuit frequency and payout severity across the country, Mr. Karls said. Patient safety initiatives and better risk management within medical practices also may be having an impact.
It remains to be seen how the Affordable Care Act will affect medical liability premiums. So far, industry analysts have not seen a definitive impact on medical malpractice insurance rates from the law, Mr. Karls said. The law could ultimately help lower liability claims if the ACA results in more proactive, preventive approaches to medical errors and less acute care, but in the short term, more patients covered under the ACA could mean a rise in lawsuits and, thus, premiums.
There are “more people getting care from the same number of health providers,” he said. “That puts additional pressure on an already strained system. Short term, the impact of the ACA could lead to additional [malpractice] claims.”
As for states with extremely high insurance rates, Dr. Volker does not see premium relief any time soon. He expects the trend of practice mergers and acquisitions to continue as more physicians seek to escape high premium costs and regulatory burdens.
“I think what you’re going to see in the hotbeds is more migration,” said Dr. Volker, who is licensed to practice in Nevada, California, Florida, and Arizona. “More doctors [will be] giving up their individual practices and joining larger groups.”
The MLM survey, published in October, gathered July 1 premium data from the major medical malpractice insurers and examines rates for mature, claims-made policies with $1 million/$3 million limits for internists, general surgeons, and ob.gyns.
On Twitter @legal_med
Malpractice premiums for physicians stayed mostly the same in 2014, with 65% of liability insurance rates remaining steady nationwide, according to the Medical Liability Monitor’s annual survey and analysis of premiums nationwide.
Ongoing trends of slow lawsuit frequency and low plaintiff payouts are contributing to the steady market, said Chad C. Karls, editor of the 2014 Annual Rate Survey and a principal and consulting actuary for Milliman in Brookfield, Wis.
“We certainly do see those very large verdicts in the industry, but when we take it across all claims, the vast majority don’t have a verdict attached to them,” Mr. Karls said in an interview. “The vast majority get settled. That average claim has remained relatively stable.”
Unchanging insurance rates, however, can mean payment misery or relief depending on where physicians practice. Internists in southern Florida will pay a high of $47,707 for malpractice insurance this year, while their counterparts in South Dakota will pay just $3,697. For ob.gyns., malpractice insurance is priciest in the New York counties of Nassau and Suffolk, where they will pay $214,999 in malpractice premiums this year. But in Central California, ob.gyns. will pay just $16,240. General surgeons in southern Florida will dish out $190,829 in premiums in 2014, while Wisconsin surgeons will pay $10,868.
Premiums did increase in some areas in 2014. Indiana physicians saw the highest increase at 4.5%. Nevada doctors experienced a 34.8% decrease in premiums, by far the largest drop among states. (See map.) Nevada’s average percent change was driven by two companies that reported high rate decreases, the survey noted. (Acquisitions by some Nevada insurers may have affected the numbers.)
In general, Nevada’s large rate decline is not surprising, said Dr. Warren Volker, trustee-at-large for the Clark County (Nev.) Medical Society and chair of Premiere Physician Insurance Company in Nevada. Doctors in the state have experienced a stable medical liability climate for the last decade, he said.
“Our premiums have gone down dramatically, across the board,” Dr. Volker said in an interview. “Physicians have enjoyed cost savings as long as they have a good history.”
He attributed the declines to tort reform passed in 2002, including a $350,000 noneconomic damages cap in medical malpractice cases. Since then, the number of lawsuit filings has gone down and competition among liability insurers has increased, he said.
Legal reforms such as Nevada’s have probably contributed to the overall decrease in lawsuit frequency and payout severity across the country, Mr. Karls said. Patient safety initiatives and better risk management within medical practices also may be having an impact.
It remains to be seen how the Affordable Care Act will affect medical liability premiums. So far, industry analysts have not seen a definitive impact on medical malpractice insurance rates from the law, Mr. Karls said. The law could ultimately help lower liability claims if the ACA results in more proactive, preventive approaches to medical errors and less acute care, but in the short term, more patients covered under the ACA could mean a rise in lawsuits and, thus, premiums.
There are “more people getting care from the same number of health providers,” he said. “That puts additional pressure on an already strained system. Short term, the impact of the ACA could lead to additional [malpractice] claims.”
As for states with extremely high insurance rates, Dr. Volker does not see premium relief any time soon. He expects the trend of practice mergers and acquisitions to continue as more physicians seek to escape high premium costs and regulatory burdens.
“I think what you’re going to see in the hotbeds is more migration,” said Dr. Volker, who is licensed to practice in Nevada, California, Florida, and Arizona. “More doctors [will be] giving up their individual practices and joining larger groups.”
The MLM survey, published in October, gathered July 1 premium data from the major medical malpractice insurers and examines rates for mature, claims-made policies with $1 million/$3 million limits for internists, general surgeons, and ob.gyns.
On Twitter @legal_med
Malpractice premiums for physicians stayed mostly the same in 2014, with 65% of liability insurance rates remaining steady nationwide, according to the Medical Liability Monitor’s annual survey and analysis of premiums nationwide.
Ongoing trends of slow lawsuit frequency and low plaintiff payouts are contributing to the steady market, said Chad C. Karls, editor of the 2014 Annual Rate Survey and a principal and consulting actuary for Milliman in Brookfield, Wis.
“We certainly do see those very large verdicts in the industry, but when we take it across all claims, the vast majority don’t have a verdict attached to them,” Mr. Karls said in an interview. “The vast majority get settled. That average claim has remained relatively stable.”
Unchanging insurance rates, however, can mean payment misery or relief depending on where physicians practice. Internists in southern Florida will pay a high of $47,707 for malpractice insurance this year, while their counterparts in South Dakota will pay just $3,697. For ob.gyns., malpractice insurance is priciest in the New York counties of Nassau and Suffolk, where they will pay $214,999 in malpractice premiums this year. But in Central California, ob.gyns. will pay just $16,240. General surgeons in southern Florida will dish out $190,829 in premiums in 2014, while Wisconsin surgeons will pay $10,868.
Premiums did increase in some areas in 2014. Indiana physicians saw the highest increase at 4.5%. Nevada doctors experienced a 34.8% decrease in premiums, by far the largest drop among states. (See map.) Nevada’s average percent change was driven by two companies that reported high rate decreases, the survey noted. (Acquisitions by some Nevada insurers may have affected the numbers.)
In general, Nevada’s large rate decline is not surprising, said Dr. Warren Volker, trustee-at-large for the Clark County (Nev.) Medical Society and chair of Premiere Physician Insurance Company in Nevada. Doctors in the state have experienced a stable medical liability climate for the last decade, he said.
“Our premiums have gone down dramatically, across the board,” Dr. Volker said in an interview. “Physicians have enjoyed cost savings as long as they have a good history.”
He attributed the declines to tort reform passed in 2002, including a $350,000 noneconomic damages cap in medical malpractice cases. Since then, the number of lawsuit filings has gone down and competition among liability insurers has increased, he said.
Legal reforms such as Nevada’s have probably contributed to the overall decrease in lawsuit frequency and payout severity across the country, Mr. Karls said. Patient safety initiatives and better risk management within medical practices also may be having an impact.
It remains to be seen how the Affordable Care Act will affect medical liability premiums. So far, industry analysts have not seen a definitive impact on medical malpractice insurance rates from the law, Mr. Karls said. The law could ultimately help lower liability claims if the ACA results in more proactive, preventive approaches to medical errors and less acute care, but in the short term, more patients covered under the ACA could mean a rise in lawsuits and, thus, premiums.
There are “more people getting care from the same number of health providers,” he said. “That puts additional pressure on an already strained system. Short term, the impact of the ACA could lead to additional [malpractice] claims.”
As for states with extremely high insurance rates, Dr. Volker does not see premium relief any time soon. He expects the trend of practice mergers and acquisitions to continue as more physicians seek to escape high premium costs and regulatory burdens.
“I think what you’re going to see in the hotbeds is more migration,” said Dr. Volker, who is licensed to practice in Nevada, California, Florida, and Arizona. “More doctors [will be] giving up their individual practices and joining larger groups.”
The MLM survey, published in October, gathered July 1 premium data from the major medical malpractice insurers and examines rates for mature, claims-made policies with $1 million/$3 million limits for internists, general surgeons, and ob.gyns.
On Twitter @legal_med
