Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Highlights News Coverage of State Medical Malpractice Insurance Developments, USA

Main Category: Litigation / Medical Malpractice
Article Date: 06 Mar 2005 - 5:00 PDT

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The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report examines recent developments related to medical malpractice insurance in eight states. Summaries appear below.

• Arizona: The state Senate on Feb. 21 approved legislation that would allow physicians to apologize and offer condolences to patients and their families without concerns that plaintiffs could use the statements as evidence in malpractice lawsuits, the AP/Arizona Daily Star reports. Meanwhile, at the Arizona Litigation Reform Summit last month, trial attorneys, patient advocates and lawmakers considered proposals that would ask patients to waive litigation rights prior to physician visits, encourage physicians to lobby patients for medical liability reform and pay injured patients over time rather than in one lump sum. The summit, held by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, received financial support from Viad, BlueCross BlueShield of Arizona and Altria. According to the AP/Daily Star, state lawmakers next year might reintroduce a bill that would amend the state constitution to allow caps on noneconomic damages in malpractice lawsuits (AP/Arizona Daily Star, 2/27).
  
  
• District of Columbia: Officials for malpractice insurer NCRIC Group on Monday announced the planned sale of the company to Alabama-based insurer ProAssurance for $69.6 million in stock because "it can no longer withstand the volatile malpractice legal climate as a free-standing firm," the Washington Post reports. NCRIC -- which provides malpractice insurance to 4,700 physicians in the District of Columbia, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia -- announced a total loss of $7.1 million for 2004, compared with a loss of $4.2 million for 2003. According to NCRIC officials, the company allocated $81.3 million to cover malpractice awards and settlements for 2001 to 2003, about $17 million less than required. The sale of NCRIC to ProAssurance requires approval from regulators and NCRIC shareholders (ElBoghdady, Washington Post, 3/1).
  
  
• Illinois: The St. Clair County Board on Monday endorsed a bill under consideration in the state House that would cap noneconomic damages in malpractice lawsuits at $250,000 for individual physicians and at $500,000 for hospitals, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The legislation also would provide the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation with increased authority over the insurance industry. According to the Post-Dispatch, some have said that increased malpractice insurance premium rates have prompted about 165 physicians to leave the St. Clair County area in recent years (Lamb, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 2/28).
  
  
• Missouri: The state House has approved a bill (HB 393) that would reduce the state cap on noneconomic damages in malpractice lawsuits against health care providers, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In addition, the legislation would expand the state definition of health care provider -- which currently includes only physicians and hospitals -- to include nursing homes and pharmaceutical companies. The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Richard Byrd (R), would cap noneconomic damages in malpractice lawsuits at $250,000 or three times actual damages, whichever is higher; require plaintiffs to file lawsuits in the counties in which the alleged malpractice occurred; eliminate joint and several liability in malpractice lawsuits; and require plaintiffs to obtain merit statements from health care providers with expertise in the fields related to their injuries. The legislation remains under consideration in a state Senate committee (Luecke, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 2/27).
  
  
• New Jersey: The Medical Society of New Jersey recently held a series of "town hall" meetings statewide to "keep the subject of medical liability insurance on the radar screen," the Newark Star-Ledger reports. At the meetings, Peter Leone, president of the professional liability services company Edge, told physicians to question malpractice insurance premium rate increases related to lawsuits, ask malpractice insurers to dismiss frivolous lawsuits and challenge joint and several liability laws. Ray Kantor, director of government affairs for the medical society, said that the group plans to make federal medical liability reform legislation a "top priority" this year (Newark Star-Ledger, 3/2).
  
  
• Ohio: Medical malpractice insurance premium rate increases for the state's five largest insurers could be below 10% by the end of 2005, compared with a 20% increase in 2004, a 27% increase in 2003 and a 31% increase in 2002, state Department of Insurance Director Ann Womer Benjamin said Monday during a meeting of the Ohio Medical Malpractice Commission, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. She noted that a state law enacted in 2003 that limits the amount of noneconomic damages awarded in medical malpractice cases will take several years to impact claims and losses. Brent Mulgrew, executive director of the Ohio State Medical Association and a member of the commission, said that "expenses for professional liability insurance are unsustainable over the long run" regardless if the market is more stable because physicians in the state "are paying much more (for insurance) than they were a few years ago, yet their ability to recoup those costs is extremely limited" (Treffinger, Cleveland Plain Dealer, 3/1).
  
  
• Washington: The number of medical malpractice claims in Washington increased by about 5% annually over the past 10 years, according to a report released Tuesday by Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler's office, the Tacoma News Tribune reports (Otto, Tacoma News Tribune, 3/2). Researchers analyzed about 10,000 claims handled by the state's five largest medical malpractice insurers from July 1, 1994, through June 30, 2004 (Ostrom, Seattle Times, 3/2). According to the report, the average amount insurance companies paid to injured patients increased 4% a year over ten years while the average amount insurance companies paid to defend doctors increased about 6% annually over the same time. The report found that 73% of malpractice claims filed over the past ten years did not result in awards. In cases in which money was awarded, damages totaled $100,000 or less in 65% of the cases, according to the report (Tacoma News Tribune, 3/2). Bills being considered in the state House to address rising malpractice premiums include provisions that would allow doctors to offer an apology without retribution, allow physicians to report unsafe practices without retribution and require hospitals to report adverse events to the state. Ballot Initiative 330, sponsored by Washington State Medical Association executive director Tom Curry, would cap noneconomic damage awards and limit lawyers' fees. Initiative 336, supported by trial lawyers, would require a mandatory state investigation of doctors who cause three preventable injuries within a decade (Seattle Times, 3/2).
  
  
• Wyoming: State House legislators on Tuesday passed two bills that aim to reduce medical malpractice insurance premiums, the AP/Billings Gazette reports. The first bill would require malpractice insurance companies to report to the state insurance commissioner by March 1 of each year all claims against physicians, including the age of plaintiffs and an itemized list of medical costs, economic damages and noneconomic damages paid. Under the measure, physicians' names would remain confidential. The measure now goes to Gov. Dave Freudenthal (D) for approval. A second bill would require hospitals to report medical errors to the state Department of Health. That measure will return to the state Senate for a vote on changes made by state House legislators, including a provision that would prohibit any member of the Health Department from testifying in any civil case about evidence presented to the department or about findings, recommendations or opinions of the agency (AP/Billings Gazette, 3/2).

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