Article by Jai Cedenio & Bala Nadarajah
Captive Insurance and America’s Health
America’s health system is under threat as both medical institutions and practitioners face the real prospect of going out of business as a result of not being able to find or afford coverage in a hard commercial insurance market, especially for medical malpractice coverage.
In January of this year, the critical nature of the situation was highlighted in the State of the Union address by George W. Bush, as the President gave recognition of the unprecedented circumstances in which doctors are striking or ceasing practice because they cannot afford medical malpractice insurance.
In some cases annual premiums have more than doubled and medical professionals such as neurosurgeons are paying more than $100,000. As more insurers pull out of the market-place due to out-of-control costs the limit of cover decreases (the average limit of cover on a medical institution now is $5 million), premiums increase
