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Liability Rates Climb Again While Legislators
Mull Reforms
by Tom Walsh
Doctors across Massachusetts began hearing
the news in mid-May: ProMutual Group, the state's largest commercial
underwriter of professional-liability insurance, would be hiking
premiums by an average of 11.3 percent on July 1.
The announcement caused neurosurgeon Ronald
K. Warren, M.D., to stop and consider.
"Pretty soon we're going to be working
just to pay overhead," said Warren, one of three neurosurgeons
in a busy Norwood practice, Neurosurgical Consultants, Inc. "We
could end up with a situation here like in Florida and Texas, where
doctors don't have insurance."
Fourth Straight Double-Digit Rise
The latest increase marks the fourth
consecutive year of double-digit increases in professional-liability
rates. While 11.3 percent is the average among all specialties,
68 of 114 specialties will see increases of 15 percent or more.
With this latest round of increases, physician insurance premiums
will have nearly doubled since 1998 (see graph). more
Frist Sees "Provider-Friendly"
Future
Ten years from now, Americans may enjoy a health
care system that is patient-centered, consumer-driven, and provider-friendly.
So predicted U.S. Senate Majority Leader William
H. Frist, M.D., the Tennessee Republican who delivered the Shattuck
Lecture at this year's Annual Meeting in Boston.
"The status quo is unacceptable, and our
health care system will deteriorate unless we act," Frist,
the Senate's only sitting physician, told the luncheon gathering.
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