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Don’t Leave Your Health Care in the
Hands of Others
Educate Yourself, Register to Vote
As Ohioans consider issues and
candidates for the November elections, the medical malpractice insurance
crisis is a key topic to add to the mental checklist. Registering to
vote by Oct. 4, and casting a vote on Nov. 2 can help ease a crisis that
is making it harder to keep good doctors in Ohio and driving up health
care costs.
The Problem
Due to a struggling insurance
industry, growing jury awards and the need for stable liability law, the
rates Ohio physicians pay for liability insurance are among the highest
in the nation, with reports of annual premium increases of more than 300
percent. Some physicians are struggling to even find adequate insurance
coverage with Ohio insurance carriers becoming insolvent, pulling out of
the state or being more selective of which doctors they insure. Faced
with excessive increases in the cost to insure themselves or difficulty
in obtaining insurance, many physicians are being forced to leave Ohio,
retire early or stop performing certain procedures. The American Medical
Association designated Ohio as a state at crisis level on this issue.
The Price
Access to Care
The liability insurance
crisis threatens patients’ freedom and flexibility in selecting doctors,
putting at risk their access to convenient and high-quality health care.
A random survey of 4,000 physicians conducted by the Ohio State Medical
Association showed 34 percent of Ohio physicians expect to close their
practices within the next two years if medical liability insurance costs
continue to rise. Fifty-eight percent responded they would close their
practices within three years. As doctors stop practicing in Ohio, their
patients turn to other physicians, overloading their patient capacity.
Most Ohio communities have already said goodbye to quality physicians
or lost specialty health care services. A well-known Dayton area surgeon
will no longer perform breast cancer surgery due to the cost of
liability insurance premiums. In Columbus, an OB/GYN practice with 4,500
patients closed this spring with the physicians forced to leave the
state, retire early or accept other career opportunities due to
unaffordable liability insurance rates. To learn more about the high
price Ohio has already paid in lost physicians, visit
www.AskYourDoctorOhio.com/physician_anecdotes.aspx.
Health Care Costs
With fewer physicians
practicing in the state, costs of service are likely to increase and
ultimately the burden of these expenses will translate into higher costs
for patients.
Health Industry Combats the Problem
The Ohio Hospital Association is tackling the issue on several
fronts, fighting for legislative reform, establishing a Medical
Malpractice Insurance Crisis Task Force and re-entering the professional
liability insurance market with a new medical malpractice insurance
company, OHA Insurance Solutions, Inc. OHA also launched a statewide
initiative this year to help educate Ohioans about the threat to
availability and affordability of their health care posed by
out-of-control medical malpractice premiums and the important role of
the Ohio Supreme Court in addressing this issue. Through this campaign,
Ohio’s hospitals are uniting to raise awareness of the liability
insurance crisis and affect change.
What Can Ohioans Do?
Educate Themselves
T he Ohio Supreme Court has
the final word on legislation affecting the state’s medical malpractice
insurance environment, and four of seven justices—and the balance of the
court—will be decided in November. Ohio’s Supreme Court is elected, not
appointed, and Ohioans have the opportunity to elect four Supreme Court
candidates this fall.
Many Ohio physicians are sharing information with their patients on
the medical malpractice insurance crisis. They know best how the
liability insurance environment has changed in Ohio and how it has been
impacted by decisions of previous Ohio Supreme Courts. Ohioans are
encouraged to discuss the situation with trusted physicians and visit
www.AskYourDoctorOhio.com for more information. The site also
includes a discussion board where physicians, concerned citizens and
others can voice their opinions.
Register to Vote
According to the Associated
Press, the average rate of voter registration for an Ohio county is 62
percent. Only six of the state’s 88 counties have more than 70 percent
of their eligible voters registered. It is the right and responsibility
of Ohioans to educate themselves on issues that impact them and their
families, such as the professional liability crisis, and to register to
vote and head to the polls on Nov. 2. The deadline for voter
registration is Oct. 4. For more information on registering to vote,
visit the Ohio Secretary of State’s Web site at
www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/voter/.
This article is the first of a three-part series on the medical
malpractice insurance crisis and the role of the Ohio Supreme Court in
solving the problem.
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