Employee discrimination liability: an insurable risk.
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Contraceptive choices are being reduced rather than being expanded in many parts of the world, particularly in Western countries. Although this paper presents an Australian perspective, the concerns are shared by family planners in other countries. The reasons for this are multiple and complex and often interrelated but ultimately depend on commercial considerations. The community expectation is that an ideal contraceptive can and does exist, but the media sensationalization of contraceptive problems has given many contraceptive methods a poor image. Contraceptive availability is also affected by liability issues, which have increased the cost of product liability insurance, and medical liability insurance of health professionals, increasing both the cost of contraceptives to the individual and the availability of services such as IUD insertions and sterilization, as practitioners withdraw their services, due to cost of insurance. The cost of marketing a new contraceptive from the time the idea is first developed until it is approved for marketing also deters manufacturers from developing new contraceptives. Delays in drug evaluation procedures in many countries deters companies with already well established contraceptives from marketing them in such countries. The effect of political stands by radical feminists or consumer groups, also effect both the image and the availability of contraceptives, as can be seen with the saga of Depo-Provera, RU486 and intrauterine devices. Similarly, the moral perceptions of anti-abortion groups and health care providers is also a threat to fertility control services. Possible solutions to some of these problems are offered in the paper.
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The physician malpractice insurance crisis is having an adverse financial impact on both hospitals and their medical staffs. Innovative hospitals are exploring ways to create insurance arrangements to cover the professional liability of their medical staffs. Hospital risk managers often have theorized that if the same insurer covered both hospitals and their staff physicians, providers and their patients would benefit. These programs--often referred to as "channeling" or "channeled programs"--use a common risk management program, common claims administration, and a common claims defense for insured hospitals and their medical staffs, reducing costs, unfavorable verdicts, and, thus, premiums. Unfortunately only a few commercial carriers now offer such a program. Some hospitals and systems have therefore turned to "captive" insurance companies to provide the benefits of a channeled program. Hospitals or systems and their medical staffs can establish a captive (i.e., a controlled insurance company designed to insure its owners and their affiliates) either offshore (typically in a tax-free jurisdiction such as the Cayman Islands, Barbados, or Bermuda) or onshore (typically in a state with facilitating legislation). The Tax Reform Act of 1986, together with the Liability Risk Retention Act of 1986, generally tips the regulatory balance in favor of onshore captives by allowing these entities to operate as risk retention groups (RRGs).
The Pennsylvania Medical Society Liability Insurance Company now offers medical liability insurance coverage for retired member physicians who write prescriptions for themselves or their immediate families. Though the coverage was just approved by the Insurance Department in August of this year, it was in the making for more than 10 years. This is a background.
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OBJECTIVE: To describe recent changes in obstetric practice patterns and liability insurance premium costs and their consequences to Washington State obstetric providers (obstetrician-gynecologists, family physicians, certified nurse midwives, licensed midwives). METHODS: All obstetrician-gynecologists, rural family physicians, certified nurse midwives, licensed midwives, and a simple random sample of urban family physicians were surveyed about demographic and practice characteristics, liability insurance characteristics, practice changes and limitations due to liability insurance issues, obstetric practices, and obstetric practice environment changes. RESULTS: Fewer family physicians provide obstetric services than obstetrician-gynecologists, certified nurse midwives, and licensed midwives. Mean liability insurance premiums for obstetric providers increased by 61% for obstetrician-gynecologists, 75% for family physicians, 84% for certified nurse midwives, and 34% for licensed midwives from 2002 to 2004. Providers' most common monetary responses to liability insurance issues were to reduce compensation and to raise cash through loans and liquidating assets. In the 2 years of markedly increased premiums, obstetrician-gynecologists reported increasing their cesarean rates, their obstetric consultation rates, and the number of deliveries. They reported decreasing high-risk obstetric procedures during that same period. CONCLUSION: Liability insurance premiums rose dramatically from 2002 to 2004 for Washington's obstetric providers, leading many to make difficult financial decisions. Many obstetric providers reported a variety of practice changes during that interval. Although this study's results do not document an impending exodus of providers from obstetric practice, rural areas are most vulnerable because family physicians provide the majority of rural obstetric care and are less likely to practice obstetrics. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.
Childhood accidents of any kind do not present any particular problems to Swiss third party liability insurers. However, such claims call for an active handling by the claims adjusters as well as intense contacts between claims adjuster, responsible physician, and parents in order to prevent any long term complications.
OBJECTIVE: To analyze professional liability premiums in dermatology and factors associated with premium variation. DESIGN: This study examines data from a survey of dermatologists conducted in 2004. RESULTS: Survey respondents (n = 1095) reported mean medical liability premiums of $10,898 in 2004 (95% confidence interval, $10,295-$11,501). Premiums increased by 24.4% in 2003 and 16.7% in 2004. There was substantial variation by state, and mean premiums were higher in American Medical Association (AMA)-declared "crisis states" than in those states listed as "currently OK" ($11,669 vs $9527; P = .03). Premium growth from 2002 through 2004 was higher in AMA crisis states and in states without $250 000 caps in place for noneconomic damages. Even when excluding payment for cosmetic riders, premium levels were higher for dermatologists spending more than 10% of their time in cosmetic practice ($13,816 vs $10,185; P<.001) or more than 30% of their time in noncosmetic surgery ($12,551 vs $10,453; P = .01). CONCLUSIONS: While premiums paid by dermatologists for professional liability insurance in 2004 were well below those experienced by higher-risk specialties, geographic factors and state tort law variation seem to be affecting dermatology premiums in much the same way they affect the field of medicine as a whole.
The occupational medicine consultant emerged in a few areas of the country during the 1940s. The concept is growing in popularity, with some recent evidence indicating that it may be the dominant career path for residency trained specialists in occupational medicine. The services provided to industry, labor, and government do not appear to compete with traditional occupational medicine positions. The manpower shortage in occupational physicians promises to fuel the growth opportunity for occupational medicine consultants. The major concerns at this time are the adequacy of liability insurance carried by the consultants and the possibility that their activities will too often be related to crisis situations rather than to the development of preventive medical programs with their clients.
The dermatologist's procedure was introduced in 1972 by employers' liability insurance funds in the industrial, agricultural, and public sectors of Germany's statutory occupational accident insurance as a "procedure for early detection of occupational skin diseases." So far, it is still the most relevant tool for secondary prevention in occupational dermatology in Germany. According to the intention of this procedure, insured persons with a skin disease in which an occupational etiology is suspected must be offered preventive measures and, if necessary, given appropriate treatment to avoid job-loss. To improve the efficiency of the "classic" dermatologist's procedure, in 1999, on the initiative of the Central Federation of Industrial Professional Associations, a study group was founded in cooperation with the Task Force on Occupational and Environmental Dermatology of the German Dermatological Society and the Professional Organisation of German Dermatologists. In October 2002, a controlled intervention study started in North-western Germany to scientifically evaluate the "optimised" dermatologist's procedure, which was proposed by the study group and compare it to the standard ("classic") procedure. The study results should allow detailed suggestions for an improved dermatologist's procedure before it is introduced nationwide.