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Medical
liability insurance
Soaring Medical liability insurance premiums and insurers dropping
policies altogether are threats to continued patient care, according
to a letter from the American College of Physicians - American Society
of Internal Medicine (ACP-ASIM). In a letter to Representative James
C. Greenwood, the organization offered support for the "Help Efficient,
Accessible, and Low Cost Health Care Act of 2002.""Internists are
experiencing average rises in professional liability insurance costs
of more than thirty percent in a single year," said Sara Walker,
MD, president of the ACP-ASIM. "Physicians facing huge increases
in Medical liability insurance premiums are still one step ahead
of their colleagues who are not even offered the option of renewing
their policies."
After more than a decade of generally stable rates for Medical liability
insurance insurance, many physicians have seen costs increase to
unaffordable levels.
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Physicians
are being forced to decide whether to pay the steeper bill, change
carriers, move out of state, or retire from the practice of medicine
altogether. Of these options, changing carriers may not even be
an alternative as companies writing Medical liability insurance
coverage are leaving the market.
"There is a real potential that the continued rise in Medical liability
insurance rates ultimately will reduce access to care for patients
across the country," said Dr Walker. "Physician offices and emergency
and trauma rooms have been closing their doors all across the country
due to the exorbitant costs." "Help Efficient, Accessible, Low Cost
Health Care Act of 2002," offers common sense solutions such as
limiting attorneys fees and establishing statutes of limitations
to help control the cost of Medical liability insurance premiums
and safeguard patient access to care, according to the letter.
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