[HRM]-State of California reduces medmal premiums by $23 million

State of California reduces medmal premiums by $23 million</money>

The California Department of Insurance has saved doctors and other medical providers $23 million in just two months by reducing unjustified medical malpractice insurance premiums using the state's prior approval rate regulation authority.

California law prohibits excessive malpractice insurance premiums for doctors. California insurance reform law Proposition 103 gives the state insurance commissioner authority to modify or deny medical malpractice and other property-casualty insurance rates that are unfair or excessive.

The Department of Insurance announced recently that two malpractice insurance companies would reduce premiums by nearly $4 million, which is an 11.9% reduction for medical providers with Medical Protective Co. (MedPro) and a 7.25% reduction at National Chiropractic Mutual Insurance Company (NCMIC). In the previous month, the department announced savings of $19 million for physicians and other medical providers at three other insurance companies. A challenge to rates at the Doctors Company, the state's largest medical malpractice insurance provider, is pending.

SOURCE-Healthcare Risk Management