Fewer Ohio Physicians Listing As Ob-Gyns Despite Law That Aims To Reduce Malpractice Rates

Main Category: Primary Care / General Practice
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology;  Pregnancy / Obstetrics;  Medical Malpractice / Litigation
Article Date: 27 Mar 2008 - 7:00 PDT

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Fewer physicians in Ohio are listing obstetrics and gynecology as their primary specialty despite a law enacted in 2003 that aims to reduce malpractice insurance rates, the AP/Coshocton Tribune reports. According to an Associated Press analysis of data from the State Medical Board of Ohio, the state had 1,327 listed ob-gyns at the end of 2007, a 5% decrease from 2002. At the same time, the overall number of physicians in Ohio increased from about 28,000 to about 30,000.

The 2003 law caps most jury awards for pain and suffering in medical malpractice cases at $350,000, but the law allows up to $1 million in cases with more than one victim and cases considered "catastrophic," which can include injuries to a woman and her infant during delivery, the AP/Tribune reports. Supporters of the law, including the Ohio State Medical Association, argue that large settlements and frivolous lawsuits were increasing insurance rates and forcing physicians with high-risk specialties such as obstetrics and gynecology to abandon the specialty. Opponents of such laws argue that insurance rates were increasing because insurance companies were raising prices to make up for stock market loses.

According to the AP/Tribune, insurance premiums increased an average of 31% in 2002 but slightly decreased in 2007. However, a survey conducted by the Medical Liability Monitor in 2007 found that obstetricians in Ohio paid about four times more insurance premiums than doctors in internal medicine. The survey also found that in Cleveland, the base premium rate for obstetricians insured by the American Physicians Assurance Corporation was $194,293, compared with $43,192 for internal medicine physicians.

Some experts said there is little data to prove whether jury awards increase insurance rates and whether caps reduce the costs of premiums. They added that it is difficult to measure the impact of the caps since such laws are relatively new. Texas and Florida have reported 10% and 8% increases, respectively, in the number of ob-gyns since the states enacted caps in 2003, according to the American Medical Association. Unlike Ohio, Texas and Florida have increasing populations, the AP/Tribune reports.

The growth of insurance rates has recently been leveling off, including in states that did not pass caps, according to the Medical Liability Monitor. Some experts said there could be various reasons why Ohio has fewer ob-gyns, including rising medical costs, as well as new sophisticated technology used to deliver infants, which might be forcing "old-style" obstetricians to leave the specialty, the AP/Tribune reports (Welsh-Huggins, AP/Coshocton Tribune, 3/23).

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