A clear indication that Michigan’s 1993 tort reforms are working is that the state’s largest physician medical malpractice insurer is cutting its premiums by 12 to 25 percent for Wayne County physicians, the Michigan State Medical Society (MSMS) announced recently at a news conference in Detroit. The average decrease for all physicians in Wayne County […]

First Professionals Insurance Co. (FPIC) and Bentley Insurance Group (BIG) of Chicago have joined forces to protect physicians and surgeons with favorable loss histories in Illinois via an exclusive risk purchasing group, Bentley RPG. This approach began when BIG formed to provide MPLI coverage for Illinois doctors with favorable loss histories. Both BIG and FPIC […]

Illinois doctors and patients received some very bad news: Cook County Circuit Court Judge Diane Larsen ruled the medical litigation reforms enacted by the Illinois General Assembly in 2005 as unconstitutional. This finding catapults the entire matter directly to the Illinois Supreme court for consideration. “We are disappointed in the decision, which strikes down the […]

By Alison Snyder Long Island Business News – New York Business News Physician groups are aggressively lobbying Congress to stop a controversial 10 percent cut in Medicare reimbursements, which doctors on Long Island argue would force some to stop taking the government-sponsored health plan. The proposed 2008 cuts were announced in November by the Centers […]

By Jeff Robinson http://www.kidk.com The state board of education is meeting in Pocatello to figure out how Idaho can solve it’s doctor shortage. Everyone agrees something’s got to be done, and right now the board is talking about some of our state’s options. Consulting firm MGT presented a report that paints a pretty bleak picture […]

By Fred Gray News-Review Staff Writer http://www.petoskeynews.com Without congressional action, reimbursement from Medicare to physicians nationwide will be reduced by 10 percent in January, with cuts predicted to rise to 40 percent by 2016. While that’s not good news for physicians, it may be even worse news for seniors and the disabled, whose access to […]

Agency Marketing Services to be Acquired by an Affiliate of DarwinProfessional Underwriters, with Management from Wolf Professional Risk of Tampa, FL http://www.reuters.com Agency Marketing Services (AMS), a privately owned, twenty-five year old professional liability program manager and wholesale insurance broker, is being acquired by EvolutionUnderwriting, Inc., a newly formed affiliate of Darwin ProfessionalUnderwriters, Inc. (Darwin) […]

Austin Business Journal American Physicians Service Group, an Austin-based medical professional liability insurance provider, has received a financial strength rating of A- for its subsidiary American Physicians Insurance Company from A.M. Best Co. A.M. Best cited API’s strengthened risk-adjustment capital position and strong policyholder retention, APS says. A strong financial rating usually makes companies more […]

http://www.kaisernetwork.org The latest issue of Newsweek includes comments from seven experts from Harvard University on specific problems with the U.S. health care system and recommendations to address the issues. Summaries of their comments appear below. * Health insurance expansion: An expansion of health insurance to all U.S. residents to improve access to care “would actually […]