Medical malpractice insurance covers medical professionals for liability claims arising from their treatment of patients. Medical malpractice coverage is a necessity for practicing medical professionals; however, increasing malpractice insurance costs have created a variety of challenges for many rural health care providers. At times, these costs limit their ability to offer essential services.
Multiple factors such as the cost of malpractice insurance and the growing size of malpractice claims have resulted in a reduced supply of available coverage, as insurers exit the medical malpractice business due to shrinking profit potentials. The medical malpractice dilemma is a frequently debated topic across the nation and has high stakes for rural health care.
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Funding
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Lists additional funding programs for this topic that are not currently accepting applications. Programs that are inactive may be offered again in the future.
Regulations, Forms & Other Useful Documents
Clinician's Handbook on the Federal Tort Claims Act
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration
Written for Health Center clinicians who are (or will be) receiving Federal Tort Claims Act malpractice protection. Intended to provide a fundamental understanding of the Federal Tort Claims Act.
Date: 2001
Federal Tort Claims Act: Information Related to Implications of Extending Coverage to Volunteers at HRSA-Funded Health Centers
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
Describes information on claims and lawsuits paid under current FTCA coverage for Health Centers, potential financial implications of extending FTCA coverage to volunteers in Health Centers, and how this extension could have an impact on volunteerism at Health Centers.
Date: 06 / 2009
Jury's Still Out: A Critical Look at Malpractice Reform
Author(s): William M. Sage, Margaret Thompson, Cynthia Gorman, Melissa King
Sponsoring organization: Center for American Progress
Describes medical malpractice and tort reform. Explains why they are important to health policy.
Date: 06 / 2008
Malpractice Burden, Rural Location, and Discontinuation of Obstetric Care: A Study of Obstetric Providers in Michigan
Author(s): Xiao Xu, Kristine A. Siefert, Peter D. Jacobson, Jody R. Lori, Iana Gueorguieva, Scott B. Ransom
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
Reports on a study that examined whether higher malpractice burden on obstetric providers was
associated with an increased likelihood of discontinuing obstetric care and whether there were rural-urban differences in the relationship.
Journal citation: Journal of Rural Health Volume 2009 Issue Winter Pages: 33-42
Date: 2009
Medical Malpractice Insurance: Multiple Factors Have Contributed to Increased Premium Rates
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
Reports on a study done by the Government Accountability Office that describes the extent of the increases in medical malpractice insurance rates, the factors that contributed to those increases, and the changes in the medical malpractice insurance market that may contribute to the increases in premium rates.
Date: 06 / 2003
Medical Malpractice Insurance: Stable Losses/Unstable Rates 2007
Sponsoring organization: Americans for Insurance Reform
An update to the study Stable Losses/Unstable Rates study in 2002 examining three decades of the trends in medical malpractice insurance.
Date: 03 / 2007
Medical Malpractice Law in the United States
Author(s): Peter P. Budetti, Teresa M. Waters
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Family Foundation
Provides an overview of the issues surrounding medical malpractice law and how medical malpractice law works. Discusses the legal changes that states have made over the past 30 years in response to periodic concerns about rising medical malpractice costs, some newer proposals for changing medical malpractice law, and trend data looking at changes in the number of claims and average and total claims costs.
Date: 05 / 2005
Medical Malpractice: Implications of Rising Premiums on Access to Health Care
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
Examines the responses of the health care provider to rising malpractice insurance premiums and the affect of those responses on consumers' access to health care. Discusses the practice of defensive medicine due to the fear of litigation. Compares, between states with varying levels of tort reform law, the growth of medical malpractice insurance premiums and insurer payments for malpractice claims.
Date: 08 / 2003
Tort Reform Record
Sponsoring organization: American Tort Reform Association
Published each July and December to records the American Tort Reform Association's accomplishments of the latest legislative year, including actions regarding medical malpractice claims.
Date: 06 / 2011
True Risk: Medical Liability, Malpractice Insurance and Health Care
Author(s): J. Robert Hunter, Gillian Cassell-Stiga, Joanne Doroshow
Sponsoring organization: Americans for Insurance Reform
A review of medical malpractice premiums, claims, profits and the impact of medical malpractice tort law limits. Includes references to rural.
Date: 07 / 2009
Types of Medical Malpractice Insurance Policies
Sponsoring organization: American Academy of Actuaries
Describes three types of malpractice insurance: Occurrence Policies, Claims-Made Policies, and Modified Occurrence Policies.
Date: 03 / 2008
Organizations
American Tort Reform Association (ATRA)
National organization
Dedicated to reforming the civil justice system, including health care liability reform.
Physician Insurers Association of America (PIAA)
National organization
An organization of healthcare liability insurance entities which share the common values of its founders to advocate on behalf of physicians, dentists, and other healthcare providers in the areas of legislation, education, risk management and research.
Terms & Acronyms
Causation A legal standard that asks a judge or jury to decide whether a physician's actions or inaction created or contributed to a health problem. It is difficult to prove because it requires showing what would have happened if another path had been taken.
Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) Provides compensation for people who suffer personal injury due to negligent or wrongful action by federal employees. Replaces need for malpractice coverage for federal health care providers, including federally qualified health centers.
Informed Consent An agreement obtained voluntarily from a patient for the performance of specific medical, surgical or research procedures after the material risks and benefits of these procedures and their alternatives have been fully explained in non-technical terms.
Joint Liability Liability shared by two or more parties, in which each responsible party is individually responsible for the entire obligation. A claimant may choose to collect the damages from all, some, or any one of the responsible parties.
Medical Malpractice Occurs when a physician fails to properly treat a medical condition and the negligent act or omission is the cause of a new or aggravated injury to the patient.
Medical Malpractice Insurance The insurance that covers doctors and other professionals in the medical field for liability claims arising from their treatment of patients.
Several Liability Liability where each responsible party must pay only for the portion of damages caused by that party's own fault.
Statute of Limitations A law that bars claims after a specified period of time. The time limit is based on when the claim accrued, which usually means when the injury occurred or when a potential claim was discovered. The purpose of statutes of limitation is to require that known claims be diligently pursued while evidence is reasonably available and fresh, and to provide the finality that after a certain time, a claim cannot be brought forward.
Tort Reform Laws that are usually intended to limit the number of claims or the size of payments or verdicts, in order to reduce malpractice and insurance costs. Tort reform laws may include caps or limits on damages, abolishing joint and several liability, shortening the statute of limitations, limiting contingent fees charged by plaintiffs' lawyers, providing for greater use of alternative dispute resolution (such as mediation) and other measures.
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