January 15, 2025 by matray

RedRay MGA Pte. Ltd. (RedRay), a Managing General Agent (MGA), announced its appointment as the exclusive underwriting agent for Everest International Reinsurance Limited, Singapore Branch (EIS) for Medical Malpractice Liability Insurance and associated coverages in Asia.

EIS has obtained the relevant regulatory approval to appoint RedRay as its underwriting agent to quote and bind policies specific to clients in the healthcare sector. RedRay is now EIS’ first exclusive healthcare MGA in Asia.

RedRay’s healthcare MGA caters to a broad spectrum of clients – from medical and allied health practitioner organizations to complex institutions such as Acute Hospitals, Teaching Hospitals, Clinics & Surgeries, Aged Care, Assisted Living and other specialty facilities. Healthcare clients can also avail themselves to customized packaged commercial insurance coverage across several lines to help save on their overall insurance expenditure.

On RedRay’s appointment, Tomi Latva-Kiskola, Everest’s regional head of insurance Asia said, “Our partnership with RedRay stems from our strategic alignment to target and grow in the fast-expanding healthcare sector. RedRay’s deep understanding of the unique exposures and expertise in this sector make it an ideal partner to expand our capabilities in Asia.”

The region is primed for rapid healthcare change driven by shifting demographics, rising consumer expectations, technological innovations and limited legacy health infrastructure. The increasing demand for health services for an ageing population, the manpower training to achieve adequate doctor-patient ratios, infrastructure upgrades and digital health disruptions, are driving many governments in Asia to increase their investment in healthcare.

Christopher Rummery, RedRay MGA’s CEO said, “We are delighted and humbled by our appointment to be EIS’ exclusive healthcare MGA. Building capacity with partners in rapidly growing sectors of the marketplace lies at the heart of our business. We complement insurance companies like EIS, which have growth ambitions in specialty lines of business, as they can quickly and efficiently tap into our entrepreneurial mindset, robust products and geographical expertise.”

Kamal Hamzah, head of healthcare and liability at RedRay MGA added, “Our partnership with EIS is well-timed as the healthcare industry continues to evolve and impact the indemnity needs of practitioners and institutions alike. Having medical malpractice specialists in the Asia Pacific region with close to 20 years’ experience, our agility and innovation allow us to deliver market-leading solutions for all our healthcare clients. I’m excited for the future of the region’s healthcare and look forward to growing further with our existing network of loyal partners and forging new ones.”  

January 7, 2025 by matray

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January 6, 2025 by matray

Below are some headlines and article synopses from the January 2025 issue of Medical Liability Monitor. To read the articles in their entirety, please subscribe today.

New York Gov. Hochul Vetoes Grieving Families Act for Third Time
The 2024 session of the New York State Legislature was like déjà vu all over again, as it once again overwhelmingly passed the Grieving Families Act. For the third time, Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed the measure that would have overhauled the state’s 178-year-old wrongful death statute, having previously vetoed two earlier versions of the bill in 2023 and January 2024 …

Online Healthcare Reviews Turned Negative Following COVID
Patient reviews can be a powerful tool for the healthcare industry, providing valuable insights into the quality of care being provided by medical professionals and institutions. And a correlation between patient satisfaction and medical liability claims has long been documented. After the COVID-19 pandemic reached the United States, the number of positive online reviews of healthcare facilities dropped significantly and has yet to fully recover, according to a recent analysis led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Currently, more than half of the reviews on the online platform Yelp are negative, a stark reversal of the pre-COVID trend …

Texas Attorney General Sues New York Doctor for Prescribing Abortifacients Via Telemedicine
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton last month filed a lawsuit accusing a New York doctor of prescribing and providing abortion-inducing drugs to Texas residents in violation of state law. New York is one of 23 states with shield laws protecting people accessing and providing abortion services. Paxton’s lawsuit is the first case to test what happens when state abortion laws conflict with each other …

Pennsylvania Can Access Med Malpractice JUA Surplus Funds
The United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit last month ruled that the Pennsylvania state government can access surplus funds held by the commonwealth’s Professional Liability Joint Underwriting Association (JUA). The JUA currently maintains a surplus of nearly $350 million …

Philladelphia Judge Orders New Trial in $45 Million Medical Liability Verdict
Judge Glynnis D. Hill of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas last month ordered a new trial in a medical liability lawsuit that resulted in a $45 million verdict against Temple University Hospital. Judge Hill determined there were “inconsistencies in both the jury’s liability and damages determinations” significant enough to warrant the new trial …

ATRF Publishes Annual ‘Judicial Hellholes’ Report, Medical Professional Liability Again Plays Determining Role
The American Tort Reform Foundation (ATRF) issued its 2024/2025 Judicial Hellholes report last month. The annual release documents abuse of the civil justice system in jurisdictions the pro-tort reform group says are among the most unfair and out of balance in the United States. The ATRF is a branch of the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA), an umbrella organization exclusively dedicated to reforming the nation’s court system via a network of state-based liability-reform coalitions. As every year, medical professional liability issues played a compelling role in which regions/jurisdictions received mention in the Judicial Hellholes report …

Bills to Raise, Pierce MedMal Damage Cap Die in Michigan Congress
Legislation aimed at amending the Michigan Revised Judicature Act to increase — or in certain cases eliminate — the state’s limits on recoverable noneconomic damages in medical liability claims failed last month when two companion bills did not pass their respective chambers before the adjournment of the state’s 2024 legislative session. The proposed bills would have also introduced new exemptions to those increased limits …

Make America Healthy Again: An Unconventional Movement
President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House has given health business leaders and non-mainstream doctors significant clout in shaping the nascent health policies of the new administration and its federal agencies. It’s also giving newfound momentum to “Make America Healthy Again,” or MAHA, a controversial movement that challenges prevailing perspectives on public health and chronic disease …

Subscribe today to get this issue (as well as the 2024 and 2025 Annual Rate Survey at no additional cost).

January 2, 2025 by matray

Mutual Insurance Co. of Arizona (MICA) today announced that its Board of Trustees has declared a policyholder dividend of $16 million. The dividend will be allocated among participating policyholders who are current members as of Dec. 31, 2024, the record date.

“As a mutual insurer, our member-policyholders are at the heart of everything we do,” said Edward G. Marley, MICA president and CEO. “This dividend is a testament to our financial strength and commitment to offering unique value for our medical professional liability policyholders. We’re proud to share our success directly with our insureds once again.”

The dividend represents approximately 18% of a policyholder’s 2024 annual premium for those members insured by MICA for a full three-year period ending on the Dec. 31, 2024, record date. Members current as of the record date who were consecutively insured less than the full three-year period will receive a pro-rated amount. Additional information regarding the policyholder dividend distribution for each member will be available on MICA’s member portal at www.mica-insurance.com in early February 2025.

Following the February 2025 dividend distribution, MICA will have returned $746 million in dividends to its policyholders since inception, including $95 million in the last five years.

Since 2005, the MICA Board of Trustees has awarded dividends to its policyholders each year.

December 12, 2024 by matray

Below are some headlines and article synopses from the December 2024 issue of Medical Liability Monitor. To read the articles in their entirety, please subscribe today.

How the 2024 Elections Could Affect the MPL Insurance Industry
Elections have consequences. And with the 2024 U.S. election cycle in the American rearview mirror, industry leaders are doing their best to decipher what those consequences — good or bad — might be for their business. With unified Republican control of the executive and legislative branches of government, will the GOP agenda be able to tame the economic inflation — much less social inflation — that is challenging the medical professional liability industry’s claims and operations costs? Is the Holy Grail of passing federal damage caps finally a possibility? And what were the outcomes of key races for governorships and state legislatures, where most medical liability reforms are typically enacted? …

New Mexico Jury Awards Record $412 Million Medical Liability Verdict
A New Mexico jury awarded more than $412 million last month to a man in a medical malpractice case involving NuMale Medical, a national chain of men’s health clinics. According to the plaintiff’s attorneys, it is the largest amount ever awarded by a jury for a medical malpractice claim in the United States …

DWP, Investment Gains Offsetting Underwriting Difficulties for MPL Specialty Writers
Direct written premium and investment income continued to rise during the third quarter of 2024, insulating the industry from continued underwriting losses …

Report on Digital Health Services Highlights Insurance Coverage Gaps
Digital health services are rapidly augmenting how healthcare is delivered in the United States. A new white paper, 2024 Digital Health Insurance Report, shares insights from medical professional liability insurance agents surveyed about the risks associated with using digital health services and how their clients are contemplating insurance coverage for these exposures …

Michigan Supreme Court Asked to Weigh Constitutionality of Medical Liability Damage Caps
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan last month requested that the Michigan Supreme Court certify legal questions regarding the constitutionality of the state’s cap on noneconomic damages in medical liability lawsuits …

Iowa Supreme Court Reverses, Remands State’s Largest Medical Malpractice Verdict
The Iowa Supreme Court last month reversed and remanded a $97.4 million medical liability verdict from 2022 — the largest of its kind in state history — for a violation of the hearsay rule. This decision paves the way for a new trial …

Ambiguous Abortion Bans Fueling New ‘Hesitant Medicine’
Abortion bans are intended to reduce elective abortions, but they also affect the way physicians practice medicine. Key finding from a recently published article in the journal Social Science & Medicine finds that abortion bans with criminal penalties are driving the new phenomenon of “hesitant medicine,” where providers are forced to prioritize their own criminal legal risks over the well-being of their patients and hesitate to provide the treatment their patients require …

Subscribe today to get this issue (as well as the 2024 and 2025 Annual Rate Survey at no additional cost).

December 6, 2024 by matray

MagMutual Insurance Co. announced that its chief medical officer Tanner Colegrove, MD, will present current research on maternal mortality in the U.S. during the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (ACOG) West Virginia Section Meeting, December 6 - 8 at the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs.

Colegrove will discuss findings from MagMutual’s report Worsening Maternal Mortality in the U.S.: The Role of Physicians and the Public in Addressing this Growing Crisis, which examines the many causes driving the maternal mortality trend and provides strategies for healthcare providers to elevate care, improve outcomes and reduce litigation.

Dara Aliff, DO, a member of the MagMutual Board of Directors, is chairing the ACOG program, which is eligible for CME credit. Participating faculty will lecture on issues, clinical developments and diagnostic and treatment methodologies in obstetrics and gynecology, including maternal morbidity and mortality, minimally invasive gynecological surgery (MIGS) in pregnancy, adolescent contraception, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), preterm birth prediction, and prevention, menopause and fetal surgery.

“Maternal mortality in the U.S. is an incredibly complex issue which requires the collective involvement of the medical community, legislators, researchers, educators and the general public,” Colegrove said. “MagMutual has conducted extensive research on this issue, and I’m gratified to share the findings that may help the medical community have a meaningful impact in addressing this problem beyond their own healthcare institutions.”  

December 3, 2024 by matray

AM Best affirmed BETA Healthcare Group’s financial strength rating of “A” (Excellent) with a stable outlook. BETA is a provider of hospital professional liability and the medical professional liability.

Best noted several key aspects of BETA’s operations that contributed to its rating:

• Strongest level of risk-adjusted capitalization as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR)

• Prudent loss reserving practices which have resulted in consistently favorable development of prior accident year reserves

• Long-term history of organic surplus growth despite sizable dividends paid annually, which are used to manage capital and return profits to members

• Sound liquidity measures supported by an invested asset base that predominantly consists of high-quality fixed-income securities that generate consistent and growing net investment income

“We are pleased that AM Best once again gives BETA high marks for its financial strength and operational excellence,” said Corey Grove, CEO of BETA Healthcare Group. “We continue to build upon this solid foundation to not only be there when our members need us financially, but also help advance their efforts to develop safety cultures and the infrastructure to embed the principles of both patient and employee safety in their organizations.”

November 13, 2024 by matray

Admiral Insurance Group, a Berkley Company providing wholesale-dedicated excess and surplus (E&S) lines commercial insurance, announced the company will be adding virtual care to its primary and excess professional liability products.

The rapidly evolving field of specialized technology services and products designed to assist healthcare providers has created a gap between medical malpractice and technology errors and omissions (E&O) insurance policies. As a result, there is a growing demand for insurance products that will effectively address the unique risks associated with these advancements.

"As technology is ever evolving, especially in the medical field, so are the associated risks," stated Nir Gabay, senior vice president, head of professional liability at Admiral. "We're excited to now be offering our Virtual Care coverage that addresses those unique risks with comprehensive solutions."

Virtual care coverage will be offered exclusively through Admiral's nationwide network of wholesale brokers. The policy offers primary and excess limits up to $5 million, encompassing a comprehensive range of coverages, including medical malpractice, technology errors and omissions (E&O), media liability and a full suite of cyber coverages, all within a single policy.

According to Admiral, it embraces a diverse range of specialized classes by leveraging their extensive experience in delivering high-quality professional liability insurance solutions designed for medical and technology professionals. Their virtual care coverage sample classes include custom healthcare software development and licensing, remote patient monitoring technology, teleradiology services and healthcare technology consulting, to name a few.

November 12, 2024 by matray

Preverity, a provider of risk management and patient safety solutions for the healthcare industry, announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary, Preverity PSO, has been listed as a Patient Safety Organization (PSO) by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, effective September 6, 2024.

PSOs, established by the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005, play a crucial role in supporting healthcare providers in their efforts to enhance patient safety and healthcare quality. They foster a culture of safety by providing valuable resources, data analysis, and confidential reporting mechanisms.

Preverity's decision to pursue PSO listing stemmed from recognizing the growing demand for specialized patient safety and quality improvement information among its partners and clients. The company's extensive experience in risk management, coupled with its comprehensive database of over 80 percent of U.S. physicians, enables it to uniquely quantify the relationship between clinical activity and patient safety risk. Preverity PSO will provide actionable insights to support healthcare providers in executing a safe, high reliability clinical program.

Preverity PSO's unique capabilities include national patient safety benchmarking data to alert providers of potential areas where they may face an elevated risk of safety concerns. This proactive approach empowers providers to address potential issues before they escalate, ultimately contributing to improved patient outcomes.

"We are thrilled to be recognized as a Patient Safety Organization by AHRQ," said Gene Boerger, Preverity PSO Executive Director. "This designation underscores our unwavering commitment to enhancing patient safety and quality improvement."

Preverity PSO will serve direct providers and health systems. The company's comprehensive database, containing medical billing history, provider transactions, and education offers insights into healthcare provider performance and risk profiles. This database and other resources will help Preverity PSO play a key role in advancing patient safety and supporting healthcare providers in delivering safe, high-quality care.

November 12, 2024 by matray

PIB Group Ltd (‘PIB’ or ‘the Group’), a specialist insurance intermediary, has entered the French market with the strategic acquisition of a prominent French medical malpractice insurance business BEA Group and its subsidiaries.

This investment marks a significant milestone in PIB Group’s ongoing European expansion and establishes a strong platform for further growth in France and beyond.

BEA Group is a French group founded in 2009 by CEO Marco Favale. It operates in the brokerage and claim management sector, focusing on medical malpractice and public market players. BEA Group has nine offices in three locations and also operates in the Italian market, through the 2023 acquisition of Capanna. The deal will see PIB Group providing investment and support to the BEA Group team, allowing them to continue growth across France and Italy.

The French market presents a substantial opportunity for PIB Group to enhance its European presence and offer specialized insurance solutions to a broader clientele. The newly acquired business, renowned for its expertise in medical malpractice, is well positioned to capitalize on the increasing demand for such insurance products across the continent.

With backing from world-leading private equity firms, Apax Funds and The Carlyle Group, this investment is a crucial step in realizing the strategy for PIB Group, consolidating specialist insurance distribution across major European markets.

Brendan McManus, CEO of PIB Group, stated, "Our deal with BEA Group is a significant achievement for the whole PIB Group, marking our 100th investment. France has long been a key missing link in our European growth strategy and I’m proud that we’ve been able to secure such a strong foothold in this critically important market. BEA Group is an entrepreneurial company, with exceptional people who have built an incredible brand and loyal customer base across France and Italy.

"I want to give a very warm welcome to Marco and Alexandre and everyone at BEA Group. Together, we’ll ensure our new colleagues settle well into the PIB family and work closely to ensure that we respect the nuances of the French and Italian markets. Our goal is to blend our international expertise with their deep local knowledge to create a thriving business that benefits everyone.”

Onno Jansen, CEO for PIB Group Europe, commented: “Our investment with BEA Group is one of the most exciting and important deals we’ve done to date. It not only strengthens our position in Europe but also sets the stage for future growth and innovation - much of which will occur in France and Italy. As we continue to pursue our strategy of consolidation and expansion across Europe, this deal is a testament to the team’s commitment to delivering specialised insurance solutions that meet the evolving needs of clients.”

Marco Favale, CEO and founder BEA, commented: “We’ve seen considerable growth at BEA Group over the past few years as we’ve worked to become a leading player in the medical malpractice space. Joining PIB Group for us marks the next stage of our journey, taking all that we’ve built so far and accelerating that growth using PIB Group’s resources and investment. It’s an incredibly exciting time for our team and clients, and we’re looking forward to a bright future ahead in France and Italy.”