Nevada medical school finds liability coverage

The University of Nevada fills the void left by St. Paul Companies' exit from the medical liability insurance market.

By Myrle Croasdale, AMNews staff. Aug. 5, 2002.

The University of Nevada School of Medicine has resolved a medical liability insurance crisis that threatened to shut it down.

The school found coverage through The Doctors Company for $2.1 million a year, $900,000 a year more than it was paying St. Paul Companies before it exited the market.

The school, which had until June 30 to find an alternative, had rejected state-sponsored medical liability coverage because of legal conflicts with the plan's structure. Officials announced the deal June 12.

Part of the increased cost will be picked up by the school's partner hospitals. The Nevada State Board of Examiners is recommending the state chip in $388,600 from the state estate tax to help foot the bill.

The medical school, which has campuses in Reno and Las Vegas, has 400 full- and part-time faculty and 200 resident physicians. It handles 600,000 patient visits annually.

"Without medical liability insurance, we would not be able to provide these services to patients, many of whom don't have any other health care providers," said Stephen McFarlane, interim dean of the medical school. [...]