Medical liability insurance premiums saw their highest increase in 15 years amid the COVID-19 pandemic, placing already battered practices in peril.
That’s according to a new analysis out of the American Medical Association, published on Monday. Premium increases had held steady over the past decade. But during the height of the crisis in 2020, more than 30% of premiums increased year over year, the highest tally since 2005, AMA’s survey found.
Typically, it takes “considerable time” for external factors to influence the medical liability insurance market. As such, the nation’s largest doc lobbying group believes COVID-19 was not the primary cause for the uptick. Association President Susan Bailey, MD, said this trend is another harmful blow to groups grappling with revenue reductions, lower patient volumes, and higher expenses.
“Keeping medical liability premium growth in-check is imperative to ensure patient access to care is not jeopardized by unaffordable liability insurance costs that make it impossible for physicians to remain in practice,” she said March 29. “This concern is particularly pressing given the negative impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on access and practice viability, as many physicians have had to suspend patient visits or elective procedures, and some have had to close their practices.”
From 2010-2018, the share of premiums that increased ranged from roughly 12%-19%. But in 2019 it shot up to 26.5% and again last year to 31.1%, AMA noted. Fourteen states had premium jumps in double digits, led by Kentucky (29.6%), South Carolina (27.8%), and Maryland (18.8%). Researchers unearthed “striking differences” from one market to the next, with OB-GYNs sustaining an average increase of $49,804 in Los Angeles County, California, compared to $205,380 in Florida’s Miami-Dade area.
The analysis was derived from Medical Liability Monitor’s annual survey of major U.S. insurers. MLM based its report on manual premiums—which could differ from final amount practices paid—from three medical specialties: internal medicine, obstetrics/gynecology and general surgery. You can read the full report for free here.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.