Medical Malpractice News

New Company Moves Toward Offering Malpractice Insurance In Wyoming

CHEYENNE, Wyo. - A third insurance company may soon begin offering medical malpractice liability coverage to doctors in Wyoming.

The Medical Protective Company, which offers medical malpractice insurance to physicians in several other states, has satisfied a preliminary requirement for marketing policies to Wyoming physicians by getting its rates approved by the state Department of Insurance.

Other insurers currently active in the Wyoming market include The Doctors Company and Utah Medical Insurance Association. The participation of The Medical Protective Company in the market will give doctors another alternative for medical malpractice insurance.

“Good news and bad news comes with this announcement,” Gov. Dave Freudenthal said. “The good news is that another company will begin offering coverage in the state, but the bad news is that the coverage comes with a significant price tag.”

Although The Medical Protective Company has filed rates with the Insurance Department in the past, those rates were not reflective of the Wyoming market. They were filed so that the company could continue to provide coverage to doctors who were already covered by the company in other states and who had moved into Wyoming from those states. Currently, The Medical Protective Company has very few medical malpractice policies in force in Wyoming.

The company’s present rate filing requested an overall rate increase of 45.1 percent from its prior filing. After review by the Insurance Department actuary, Wyoming Insurance Commissioner Ken Vines asked the company to reduce its request to an overall rate increase of 41.2 percent. The new filing will bring The Medical Protective Company’s rates more into line with other malpractice insurers already operating in the state.

According to Vines, The Medical Protective Company has been licensed to sell insurance in Wyoming since 1995, but has not actively marketed its products to the state’s doctors.

“With the approval of these new rates, it is my understanding that The Medical Protective Company intends to become more active in the Wyoming market,” Vines said.

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	Did You Know?
	Drug-switching practices happen and are very dangerous Another public-spirited drug giant, Merck, was forced to pay a settlement of $1.9 million to 17 states in 1995 for drug-switching practices involving its Medco subsidiary. Medco pharmacists, who had given excessively favorable treatment to Merck products, were thereafter required to reveal their Merck connection to their customers.