Understanding the physician liability insurance crisis.

www.aafp.org / fpm ■ F A M I L Y P R A C T I C E M A N A G E M E N T ■ 47 IL LU ST R A TI O N B Y C .M . SC H N EI D ER In certain areas of the country, skyrocketing medical liability insurance premiums are pushing physicians out of practice and denying patients access to needed services. In eight states, premiums increased an average of 30 percent or more last year. Another 12 states saw average premiums increase 25 percent during the same period, and problems are emerging in several other states as well. (See the map on page 49.) The hot spots are states where insurers have either left the market or gone bankrupt, where awards are particularly high or where there is very active litigation in certain areas (e.g., pregnancy-related cases). Premium increases as high as 80 percent have been reported in some areas.1 The premium differences between these areas and those in other parts of the country are dramatic. In Wisconsin, a family doctor who delivers babies and performs cesarean sections pays about $14,000 a year for coverage that extends to infinity. Family physicians with far less coverage pay three to five times as much in some other states. Physicians in other specialties are suffering, too. In southern Florida, obstetricians spend $209,000 for $250,000 in coverage and, in effect, are essentially self-insured.