Miss. Medical Liability Rates to Drop 5 Percent in 2006

Medical liability insurance rates in Mississippi will be reduced in 2006 by 5 percent according to a proposal submitted by the Medical Assurance Company of Mississippi to Insurance Commissioner George Dale.

The reduction was approved late last month by MACM’s board of directors. The company provides liability insurance for about 70 percent of the state’s physicians.

“I am pleased that MACM is in a financial position to take these steps. This is further proof that recent reforms continue to show that Mississippi can maintain a fair and equitable marketplace for those companies who write medical malpractice insurance,” Dale told The Associated Press.

In 2004, the Mississippi Legislature approved limits on civil lawsuits in response to complaints that high insurance rates were driving physicians out of the state.

“Some people are still saying tort reform didn’t work,” Dale said. “Well, this is a good example that it is beginning to work.”
Dale said the improvement in MACM’s financial condition was accomplished without increasing premiums in 2005 and with investment income projected to be roughly the same it was in the previous two years.

If MACM’s financial position continues its recovery from the underwriting difficulties experienced in recent years, the company’s board has approved a refund of 10 percent of the premium paid by those insured in 2005.

The refund will be based on the first $1 million of coverage for physicians insured with the company as of Dec. 15, 2005.

“We are extremely pleased to announce this decision and trust that it will be well received by our insureds,” Michael D. Houpt, MACM CEO said. “It appears almost certain that MACM will end the year with its first and only underwriting gain since its inception.

“As we have said many times, it has never been our goal to provide the least expensive medical liability insurance, nor was it our goal to see how much wealth we could accumulate,” Houpt said. “Our mission has always been to make coverage available at a rate that allowed us to be fiscally secure in the long term.”

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Topics Mississippi