Thursday, Feb. 28, 2002 | 11:02 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- The 120 resident physicians in training at University Medical Center will lose their medical malpractice insurance in mid-March, bringing the emergency room to a standstill and impacting other portions of the hospital, state Sen. Ray Rawson said.
Rawson and Sen. Mark James, both R-Las Vegas, on Wednesday asked state Insurance Commissioner Alice Molasky-Arman to create a joint underwriting association that would open the door for doctors to obtain insurance coverage.
Rawson said some physicians have left Las Vegas because of the medical malpractice problem and others aren't taking patients.
Rawson said the 120 residents at UMC were covered by St. Paul Cos., which is pulling out of the medical malpractice business nationwide.
"They're (residents) scrambling," to find a replacement insurance company, he said.
In addition, supervising dentists in the dental hygiene program at the Community College of Southern Nevada are facing a 50 percent increase in premiums, said Rawson, a dentist who runs the program.
"There's a genuine crisis," Rawson said.
The two senators also said a legislative committee should be created to examine a long-term solution to the malpractice problem, and the study should be ready for the 2003 Legislature.
In accordance with a 1975 law, Molasky-Arman has scheduled a televised hearing between Carson City and Las Vegas on Monday to take testimony on the availability of insurance.
She said the division "acted as expeditiously as possible, which is crucial to making a decision as to whether to implement a joint underwriting association or an essential insurance plan."
An underwriting association would offer insurance coverage to doctors, and the risk would be spread among companies writing medical malpractice insurance in Nevada.
That happened in the mid 1970s, when a similar medical malpractice insurance crisis arose.
Molasky-Arman has asked that executives from more than 13 insurance companies be present to testify about the adequacy of medical malpractice insurance in Southern Nevada. She wants to know about the claims billed against the companies and what recommendations the companies would make if she had to invoke her emergency powers.
James said, "I am concerned that good Nevada doctors without valid claims against them are being unfairly penalized by these increases."
Both senators said creating the joint underwriting association is only a temporary solution.
"I believe that we need to undertake a more thorough examination of the underlying causes of these increases in order to present a complete package of reform to the 2003 Legislature," James said.
He has asked the Legislative Commission to create a committee to study the malpractice issue. Absent that, Rawson said he would create a special subcommittee of his Committee on Health Care.
"We must take the necessary steps to assure our citizens that quality health care is available now and in the future," Rawson said.
The senators are urging Molasky-Arman to "examine the underlying causes for the cycles of extraordinary increases in medical malpractice premiums, including the damage awards in malpractice cases, which insurance companies have indicated are driving the increased costs."
They said the insurance commissioner should look at the population explosion in Southern Nevada and the increased demand on the medical profession; whether premium increases cover the actual losses and the number of doctors actually involved in high damage awards.
James said the malpractice issue will be the first order of business in the next session of his Senate Judiciary Committee, although he said separate committees will be looking into such issues as rates insurance companies charge doctors.
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