White Paper: Medical Malpractice Insurance
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JUNE 2003
Robert P. Hartwig, Ph.D., CPCU
Senior Vice President & Chief Economist
Claire Wilkinson
Director, Global Insurance Issues
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Introduction
Recent protests by doctors about the cost of medical malpractice insurance reflect a growing problem which is affecting access to healthcare and adversely impacting the
quality of that care, prompting urgent calls for medical liability reform.
The lack of affordable insurance is leading doctors to retire prematurely, relocate their practices to non-litigious areas, practice without insurance or drop risky procedures. According to the American Medical Association (AMA), the medical liability situation has reached crisis point in at least 18 states and a crisis is looming in many others (Exhibit 1). Trauma centers and specialist practices, like obstetrics and gynecology, are increasingly under threat. In Pennsylvania, 18.6 percent of obstetricians/gynecologists (ob/gyns) have dropped obstetrics, while in West Virginia nearly one in five has stopped.1 Also under pressure are the nation’s hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare facilities, which are being forced to close or reduce the range of services they can offer to the communities they serve.
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