Connecticut ob-gyn group delivers surcharge to offset liability pain

The Connecticut attorney general is questioning the legality of the $500 per-pregnancy fee.

By Damon Adams, AMNews staff. June 14, 2004.

The move is intended to threaten legislators. The rally cry: Pass a bill or pay the bill.

A practice of 150 obstetrician-gynecologists in Connecticut plans to charge an extra $500 per pregnancy starting Sept. 1 to help cover its rising medical liability premiums. The group, Women's Health Connecticut, said it wants to force a solution to the state's liability woes and would scrap the fee if legislators passed "meaningful medical malpractice reform."

"We're throwing a big rock in the pond," said Nancy Bernstein, president and CEO of Avon, Conn.-based Women's Health Connecticut, whose physicians make up about 30% of the state's estimated 400 to 500 ob-gyns.

The liability surcharge, announced in May, is a unique way of approaching the medical liability crisis. Medical leaders said it is rare for a practice to add a surcharge specifically designated for liability premiums.

At press time, the AMA House of Delegates, which is holding its Annual Meeting in Chicago this month, was expected to look at the issue of liability surcharges in physician offices. The AMA said 19 states, including Connecticut, have reached crisis stage due to the rising cost of medical liability insurance.

Other states are watching to see how the liability surcharge goes over with patients, insurers and lawmakers in Connecticut.

The Ohio State Medical Assn. in January gave legal guidance to physicians on the types of administrative fees they can charge and is waiting to see what happens with the Connecticut surcharge.