Following the June 2008 acquisition of SCPIE, The Doctors Company is now 19,000 physicians strong in California. Apparently, their position as a market leader in California has led to a recent decision to reduce rates by 10 to 30 percent for California physicians. The request to reduce rates has been sent to the Department of Insurance in Sacramento and in all likelihood will be approved in the coming weeks, hopefully in time for the January 1, 2009 policies. In many cases, The Doctors Company will now be poised to offer some of the lowest medical malpractice insurance premiums available. All in all, great news for California physicians struggling to stay afloat in this volatile economy.
In addition to premium reductions, The Doctors Company has also requested an increase in the claims-free discount available to their members. Currently the maximum credit is 12.5 percent, and if approved the discount will be as high as 17.5 percent for some surgical specialties—such as general surgery, neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, plastic surgery, and thoracic/cardiovascular surgery.
The decreased medical malpractice insurance rates seem to reflect the carriers confidence that the current downward trend in claims frequency will continue into 2009.
Presidio Insurance Solutions can provide information about a host of medical malpractice insurance carriers and medical malpractice insurance rates.