Hike in NY medical malpractice insurance rates approved

July 03, 2007 10:51 am

— ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Regulators in New York approved a 14 percent increase in medical malpractice insurance rates on Monday and Gov. Eliot Spitzer formed a task force to find ways to rein in the high cost of the coverage.
The state Insurance Department said the latest rate hike was lower than insurance companies wanted and "is necessary to avoid further financial deterioration of the companies and perhaps an irreversible crisis in an already severely distressed market."
The task force that will report back to Spitzer by the end of the year will include state Health Commissioner Dr. Richard Daines and representatives of physician and hospital groups, the insurance industry, consumer groups, health plans, trial lawyers and state lawmakers.
"I am concerned that the increasing cost of medical liability insurance will drive some physicians out of the field and will discourage young people from entering the medical profession in the first place," Daines said.