Rate drop to benefit doctors

Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2003 | 11:33 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- State Insurance Commissioner Alice Molasky-Arman said today she has approved a rating change that will mean a reduction in medical malpractice insurance for obstetricians covered by the physician-owned Nevada Mutual Insurance Company.

Molasky-Arman said this was one "positive sign" in the malpractice insurance crisis that has hit the state, particularly in Southern Nevada where premiums skyrocketed.

The decreases will range from 16 percent to 33 percent. The premium for the "base rate" is $135,729 with $1 million liability coverage per incident or $3 million total.

Under the old rating system, the premiums for doctors who deliver babies increased as the number of deliveries rose past 125 a year. Molasky-Arman said a study showed there was no increased risk or loss for doctors who delivered up to 224 babies a year.

She said Nevada Mutual came forward voluntarily to reduce its rates. It covers 20 obstetricians -- 18 of them in Clark County. The company insures 514 total physicians and was formed when the malpractice insurance crisis hit.

She said there was one other company, which she declined to name, that operated under the old rule. She said her staff is working with that firm to change its rating system.

Obstetricians performing 125 to 175 deliveries a year will see rate decreases of 16 to 33 percent. Those doing 281 to 300 deliveries will see a 20 percent rate reductions.

Gynecological surgeons' rates will not be affected.

"I am pleased to see that NMIC has stepped forward with new rating rules to allow for more deliveries," Molasky-Arman. "I believe that the new rules are a positive step toward alleviating the obstetrical services shortage that Nevada, and especially Clark County, is experiencing."

Molasky-Arman said the St. Paul Cos. adopted the tier rating system and other companies followed suit. St. Paul, which had the largest number of doctors insured, has left Nevada. She said she asked other companies to show that the tier system that raised rates pegged to the deliveries was justified.

She said the information received show it was not.

Dr. Robert Gatlin, a Henderson OB/GYN, said today that a plan to reduce medical malpractice insurance premiums for obstetricians "would be fantastic news but I'm from the Show-Me State and I don't know why they would be doing it at this particular time."

Gatlin said the announcement was odd considering the fact that other insurers have been attempting to increase their premiums and no Nevada laws have been changed recently that would prompt a lowering of rates.

Dr. Robert Comeau, another local obstetrician, also said a lowering of premiums would be "wonderful news."

But Comeau said a lowering of insurance premiums would not deter physicians from seeking further medical malpractice tort reform from the Nevada Legislature this session.

"All the doctors I've spoken with have signed on to that initiative," he said.