Tort crisis spreads, few signs of abating

But reforms enacted in some states did provide a few bright spots in 2003.

By Tanya Albert, AMNews staff. Dec. 8, 2003.

Rallies to express outrage over medical liability insurance rates. Marathon legislative sessions debating tort reform. Countless calls and letters to lawmakers explaining that high rates and fewer insurers to choose from are detrimental for physicians already seeing low payments from Medicare, Medicaid and managed care.

It's been a busy year for physicians battling the medical liability insurance crisis. And doctors in many states say they are in a worse position as 2003 draws to a close than they were when the year started.

Local newspapers in Missouri, Illinois, Wyoming and other states carry stories about physicians closing their doors. The AMA added seven states to its crisis list, bringing the total to 19.

And next year is shaping up to be more of the same.

"Over this past year, the crisis, in regard to access to care for patients, has worsened," said AMA President Donald J. Palmisano, MD, who has spent the year crisis-crossing the nation stumping for tort reform. "Without meaningful reforms, the crisis will get worse, and patient access to care will continue to decrease."

After seeing initial signs of such problems this year, Maryland, Wyoming, Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky fear that they are on the verge of even bigger headaches in 2004.

"Joliet, Kankakee, you name it. It's all over the state," said Illinois State Medical Society President William E. Kobler, MD.

In November, two neurosurgeons in Rockford, Ill., announced that they were giving up practice. A number of physicians have given up obstetrics, and anesthesiologists and neurosurgeons have stopped practicing in parts of southern Illinois.