The amount of money health care providers pay for medical malpractice insurance appears to be dropping, according to data from the Pennsylvania Insurance Department. The downturn follows a trend in which medical malpractice filings and, accordingly, verdicts have been steadily dropping in Pennsylvania ever since sweeping reforms were initiated about a decade ago.
According to available data, since 2009, premiums from three of the state's most-used carriers have been dropping each year. The figures provided to the Law Weekly date back to 2001 and run through 2011. The data shows a steady increase in medical malpractice insurance rates through 2005, at which point the costs leveled off before starting to drop in 2008 and 2009. The figures extend through 2011 and encompass PMSLIC and MedPro, the two top providers, according to an Insurance Department spokesperson. They also include JUA, the carrier of last resort, according to the spokesperson.
