Rhode Island Medical Malpractice Insurance

• Most Common Limits of Liability: $1 million/$3 million
• Major Malpractice Insurers:
  • ProSelect Insurance Co.
  • NORCAL Mutual Insurance Co.
  • Steadfast Insurance Co.
  • American Casualty Co. of Reading Pennsylvania
  • MedPro Risk Retention Group
• Cost of Medical Malpractice Insurance: Very high

Rhode Island has high medical malpractice rates, as is the case with many of its neighbors. The state had one of the highest amounts paid per capita for malpractice claims against physicians in 2014, at $23.60 per person. Only New York had a higher amount per capita for medical claims. In such a climate, premiums for high-risk specialties like obstetrics, neurosurgery and orthopedic surgery on the spine are quite high, and even general practitioners will pay a lot for coverage. In a 2010 report, Pacific Research Institute ranked Rhode Island as the state with the “worst tort laws in the United States.” In another report by the free-market think tank, Pacific Research Institute ranked Rhode Island as one of the states with the worst medical tort laws on the books.

Rhode Island made a major tort reform push in 2006, when then-Gov. Donald Carcieri urged lawmakers to support his Health Care Tort Reform Act, which he promised would bring balance to the state’s tort system. At the time, the American Medical Association had named Rhode Island as one of 21 states suffering a medical liability crisis. In the years leading up to Gov. Carcieri’s push to pass the Health Care Reform Act, Rhode Island medical malpractice insurance premiums had been increasing 40- to 100-percent annually, forcing many physicians to retire early or move to another state for malpractice insurance relief. The bill would have reduced the statute of limitations on medical liability claims from three years to two; required a timely disclosure of expert testimony; capped noneconomic damages at $250,000; limited the amount of attorneys’ fees that can be collected; established a pre-trial screening mechanism at the outset of the claim to determine if the case has merit; and changed the rules on prejudgment interest to discourage plaintiffs from waiting for years before filing a claim. Unfortunately for the Rhode Island healthcare community, the reform bill did not pass.

• Damage Caps? No
• Patient Compensation Fund? No
• Apology Law? No
• Collateral Source Reform? Yes, collateral sources may be introduced, as can evidence of payments to secure those benefits. The award must be reduced by the difference between the collateral payments received and the payments made by the plaintiff to secure the benefits.
• Periodic Payments? Not mandated, but must be considered for awards of more than $150,000.
• Joint Liability Reform? No
• Limits on Plaintiff Attorney’s Fees? No

Overview

Medical malpractice rates in Rhode Island are very high, and have even seen some increases in recent years. The state does not have very many carriers, which contributes to the high rates.

Get Historic Rates

By combining our efforts with those of the Medical Liability Monitor – the nation’s leading independent source of Medical Liability Insurance news, as well as the political, legal and risk management issues that affect the healthcare industry – we’ve published historic rate data for every county in the Ocean State. You can view all the rates by completing the three simple steps on the left of this page. You’ll find the insights offered by this information invaluable when making your decision on your medical malpractice insurance coverage and carriers. This is only one of the many reasons that Cunningham Group Insurance has become the preferred online source for Rhode Island physicians, healthcare professionals and medical groups looking to find the best coverage and lower their medical malpractice insurance rates.

Coverage by Rhode Island County

Rhode Island has only four counties – Providence, Kent, Washington and Newport. Rates are constant across all four.

Rhode Island Medical Society
Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation
Rhode Island Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline
Rhode Island Society of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons
Rhode Island Department of Human Services
All MD Rhode Island Healthcare Defense Attorney Listing