May 6, 2002 LOS ANGELES (AP)-- Doctors specializing in obstetrics and gynecology warn that skyrocketing insurance premiums, driven by a leap in jury awards, threaten their ability to care for women and newborns.
Steep hikes in premiums have made medical liability insurance unaffordable or unavailable for many OB-GYNs, especially in nine "hot" states where costs have tripled or quadrupled in recent years.
"Without insurance, OB-GYNs are forced to stop delivering babies, stop surgical services or close their doors," said Dr. Thomas Purdon, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
The college, meeting this week in Los Angeles, is hoping for state and federal tort reform. Doctors cite California, which in 1975 capped noneconomic damages in jury awards, as a model for legislative action. The American Medical Association made a similar plea for relief in March.
Insurers consider obstetrics and gynecology high-risk specialties, and price their coverage accordingly. Annual premiums cost as little as $ 12,000 a year in Nebraska but as much as $ 209,000 in Florida's Dade and Broward counties.
And rates continue to rise: the median annual premium rose 12.5 percent last year and is expected to rise an additional 15 percent this year, officials said.
Dr. Joseph Apuzzio said insurance premiums for OB-GYNs in New Jersey, where he practices, jumped from a typical $ 40,000 to twice that for doctors whose policies came due last January.
"And these are not people who had cases against them either," Apuzzio said. Rather than pay the increased premiums, doctors are retiring early, moving out of state or stopping delivering babies.
Doctors blame the increases in part on rising jury verdicts in medical malpractice cases.
The median medical practice award hit $ 1 million in 2000, twice what it was in 1995, according to Jury Verdict Research.
In childbirth cases, the median award between 1994 and 2000 was $ 2 million, more than any other of the most commonly claimed medical liability situations, according to the Horsham, Pennsylvania, company.
OB-GYNs said insurance costs are rising fastest in nine states: Florida, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington and West Virginia.
Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
