Repeat after me. Medical malpractice insurance rates are falling. Medical malpractice insurance rates are falling. Medical malpractice insurance rates are falling.

 

After years of watching medical malpractice rates soar in Florida , and the state hemorrhage of doctors due to high insurance costs, all eyes are on the market where rates have fallen for the third consecutive year in 2007. However, a funny thing happened on the way to a stable market. Despite the legislature’s move to enact major reforms and a number of constitutional amendments approved by voters, doctors are still not buying into the fact the market has improved. Indeed, a wide divide remains between the downward trends in rates and doctors’ perceptions of the market.

 

Prior to the 2003 reforms, thousands of doctors decided to go bare and drop their coverage altogether despite the risk of facing a medical malpractice lawsuit. But even as the reforms have caused many new insurers to enter the market, which has become highly competitive and offers lower rates, doctors still list medical malpractice costs as the number one issue they face in the state. It is also the main reason doctors refuse to treat emergency room patients and those covered under Medicaid.

 

All of this despite a newly released report by the Office of Insurance Regulation on the state of the medical malpractice market, which found that the average approved rates filed in 2006 called for a 5.3 percent decrease. Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty praised the return of the market and the willingness of public policyholders to hammer out the difficult issues the market faced. “The Florida legislature has been vigilant in its oversight efforts to control the costs in the medical malpractice insurance industry,” he said. “This report shows that the Florida legislature’s efforts to control the costs have been successful.”

 

Reforms and Constitutional Amendments

 

In 2003, state lawmakers held three special sessions to address the medical malpractice crisis. At issue for health care providers was the need to place the brakes on litigation costs, which the Florida Medical Association and the Florida Hospital Association argued was the main driver behind the upward pressure on rates. Going into the reform debate, doctors demanded a $250,000 cap on non-economic or pain and suffering awards in jury trials. Lawmakers opted to set the cap at $500,000 with the exception of emergency room services. Lawmakers also responded to the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers call for bringing more accountability to doctors’ and hospitals’ services.