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Indiana still fares well in national medical malpractice environment
2007 PCF surcharge increase to be single digits |
Specialty
Class |
Annual Rate |
0 |
$2,997 |
1 |
3,996 |
2 |
5,595 |
3 |
7,194 |
4 |
8,992 |
5 |
11,989 |
6 |
17,984 |
7 |
27,975 |
8 |
33,969 |
The Indiana Department of Insurance announced Dec. 8 that this year’s increase in the Patient’s Compensation Fund (PCF) surcharge, effective March 1, will be 3 percent across all specialty classes. This represents a significantly lower increase than recent past increases.
No information is currently available about changes to commercial insurance premiums in 2007. ProAssurance says its premiums will not change until July. Contact ISMA’s Legal Department if you have questions.
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Indiana remains one of a dwindling number of fortunate states in the medical malpractice arena. Our state passed the Medical Malpractice Act in 1975 and, unlike laws in many other states, Indiana’s act has withstood challenges over the years.
One of the major features of the Indiana act, which sets it apart from other states, is a total cap on damages (currently $1.25 million). Because of that cap, and because physicians’ underlying liability is limited (currently $250,000), Indiana physicians have experienced some of the lowest insurance rates in the country.
The AMA routinely monitors and assesses the medical malpractice liability climate of all 50 states and publishes a map assigning each state one of four categories:
- In crisis
- Showing problem signs
- Effective reforms halting crisis
- Currently OK
The AMA continues to recognize Indiana as one of only six states rated “currently OK.” According to this year’s rate survey published by Medical Liability Monitor, Indiana continues to maintain that status.
Malpractice insurance companies sometimes issue different rates for different counties. However, as a general comparison, Indiana’s base rates for internal medicine, general surgery and obstetrics/gynecology, the three specialties listed in the survey, are lower — sometimes significantly lower — than its sister states of Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky.
Indiana also fares well when compared to states outside the Midwest. The other five states the AMA categorizes as “OK” are: California, Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico and Wisconsin. Indiana rates are routinely less than those in Colorado, New Mexico and Louisiana.
Interestingly, Louisiana’s cap of $500,000 was ruled unconstitutional in September because it had never been raised since first passed in 1975. Indiana’s cap was passed at $500,000 in 1975; raised to $750,000 in 1990; and raised to $1.25 million in 1999.
In California rates vary widely, some more and some less than in Indiana. Only Wisconsin’s general surgery and OB/GYN rates are consistently below Indiana rates, but Wisconsin’s Supreme Court overturned that state’s cap in 2005, leaving uncertainty about the future of rates there.
See another article for a comparison of Indiana’s Medical Malpractice Act to California’s act.
AMA members can access the AMA Medical Liability Crisis Map.
Contact ISMA’s Legal Department if you have questions.
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