Home

Med Staff Webs:

North Austin
Medical Center

Round Rock
Medical Center

St. David's
Medical Center

South Austin
Medical Center

Back to the News Home

Medical Malpractice

Besides administering quality care, physicians have many things to be concerned about.  Competitive reimbursement, adequate office space, skilled personnel, continuing education, skyrocketing medical malpractice insurance premiums, just to name a few.  When asked to characterize their current liability insurance premium levels in Pennsylvania, 40% described their premiums as an “extreme burden,” 40% said they were a “major burden,” 12% called them a “minor burden,” and 2% said they were “not at all a burden.”   One obstetrician/gynecologist in Framingham experienced an increase of $54,000 within a two-year period, with another increase expected in the summer of 2004.  “This situation is totally out of control.  It is beyond insane,” said one physician. 

Physicians in Texas, including those in Capital Area Providers, have also been affected by the increase in premiums.  Many are either leaving the profession or limiting the scope of their practice.  Some are having to adjust their medical malpractice limits.  The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) stated, ‘from 1999 – 2003, the number of Texas malpractice insurance carriers writing policies dwindled from 17 to 3.’  TDI went on to say, “Passage of House Bill 4 and Proposition 12, which limit non—economic damages to $250,000 in medical malpractice lawsuits, has already had a positive impact on the Texas medical malpractice market.”  What exactly is this positive impact? 

Go to the Texas Department of Insurance website at www.tdi.state.tx.us to learn more and to see a list of companies who have taken concrete steps to begin selling insurance in Texas.