Profession
Pa. Insurance Dept.: No step-up in insurance limits
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Aug. 1, 2005
While the Pennsylvania medical liability insurance market is showing growth, there still is not yet enough capacity to warrant increasing the amount of coverage physicians need to purchase from private insurers, the state's insurance commissioner said.
In a report released last month, Insurance Commissioner Diane Koken said the market needs further study before a law takes effect mandating that private insurance limits be increased.
Current state law requires physicians to carry $1 million in medical liability insurance, half of which is purchased through the state-run Mcare Fund. The new law suggested raising the limit for private insurance to $750,000, with the remaining coverage coming from the state fund.
While the market has improved somewhat, "the available information does not allow a finding of sufficient additional capacity to allow a step-up in the basic insurance limit at this juncture," Koken wrote.
"To the contrary, because of the relatively new entries into the Pennsylvania market and the volatility of the financial results appurtenant to this market, additional seasoning is required."
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/08/01/prbf0801.htm.
