Our Take: Caps on noneconomic damages help limit the amount of megaverdicts that we’ve been seeing increase in regularity all over the country. Megaverdicts add an extra layer to how malpractice insurance companies and their underwriters determine how much a physician pays for malpractice insurance coverage. Megaverdicts typically are any verdicts that exceed $50 million […]

Group Health Insurance – Give Employees a Better Bonus Money can be a great motivator, but it only goes so far. Why not offer new and existing employees something that a raise or bonus can never give them? Peace of mind. Bonuses and bigger wages can do a lot to motivate employees, but the problem […]

Medical malpractice insurer Curi recently announced that Jason Sandner will take over as its next chief executive officer on July 1, 2021, when current CEO Dale Jenkins steps down after more than 25 years of service to the company. Sandner is currently the company’s chief operating officer and chief financial officer. Jenkins will continue to […]

Physicians’ Reciprocal Insurers (PRI) launched EmPRO Insurance Co., a new subsidiary insurer domiciled and authorized to write medical professional liability business in the State of New York, on September 15. Wholly-owned by PRI, EmPRO is administered by PRIMMA LLC, PRI’s attorney-in-fact. Current PRI insureds will be transitioned to EmPRO when their policies renew without any […]

Consolidation of physicians and hospitals into health systems increased substantially from 2016 to 2018, according to a study conducted by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ) and published in the August 2020 edition of Health Affairs. The study found that 51% of U.S. physicians were affiliated with health systems in 2018, compared […]

The Oregon Supreme Court last month invalidated statutory limits on noneconomic damages for personal injury claims. The high court ruled that the cap enacted by the legislature in 1987 violates the legal remedy clause of the Oregon Constitution. The decision affirmed an appeals court’s reversal of a trial court ruling on an award for a […]

The U.S. medical professional liability (MPL) insurance segment experienced a notable deterioration in underwriting results in 2019. The already dim prospects for the segment’s profitability have been clouded by COVID-19, with uncertainties regarding impacts to loss costs as well as premium refunds and the ability to put planned rate increases into effect, according to a […]

The Doctors Company has put together a checklist for reopening your practice during COVID-19. You can download it here: As officials relax some COVID-19 restrictions and you begin to reopen your practice, be mindful that transitions may occur in phases. If there is a resurgence of the virus, you will need to reassess the process […]

America’s independent physician practices face unprecedented, devastating financial losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, reporting, on average, a 55 percent decrease in revenue, and a 60 percent decrease in patient volume, since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. “New MGMA data show that 97 percent of medical group practices have experienced a negative financial impact […]