A new national analysis conducted by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS), and the American Medical Association (AMA), shows that the medical liability crisis is worsening. The findings demonstrate that as a result of increasing professional liability insurance premiums, neurosurgeons are making changes to their practice, and are no longer performing high-risk neurosurgical procedures such as aneurysm surgery and complex spine surgery. In addition, many neurosurgeons are no longer operating on children and are not treating neurosurgical emergencies.
The key survey results find that:
-Neurosurgeons' mean annual premium for 2002 professional medical liability insurance coverage is $71,200 compared with $55,500 in 2001 (a 35.6 percent increase).
-Among neurosurgeons who have received a bill for their professional liability coverage in 2003, the average premium is $84,100, (an increase of 43.3 percent from 2002).
-32.6 percent of neurosurgeons, in the last two years, have switched insurance companies. Among those, 30.4 percent switched because of rate increases, 40.6 percent because their insurance company failed or withdrew from the market, and 29.0 percent for other reasons.
-As a result of increased medical liability insurance premiums, 70.2 percent of the neurosurgeons have made some change in their practice.
The AANS and CNS have identified 25 states (in alphabetical order) in a "severe" crisis for neurosurgeons: Alabama, Arkansas, District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.
"Clearly the study's findings are alarming and demonstrate the need for the U.S. Congress to pass legislation to fix the broken medical litigation system," said Roberto C. Heros, MD, President of the AANS. "The health of our citizens is at considerable risk, as more and more neurosurgeons are forced to limit the care that they give to patients because of ever-increasing medical liability premiums and the increased risk of frivolous lawsuits."
"This survey confirms that as medical liability insurance becomes unaffordable or unavailable, more and more neurosurgeons are no longer performing high-risk procedures, or they are being forced to move their practices to states with stable medical liability systems, or they are retiring from medical practice altogether," said Mark N. Hadley, MD, President of the CNS. "The medical liability crisis is a serious problem that now touches nearly every American. All of our nation's citizens are at risk of not having access to the medical care they need when they need it, and a federal solution to this problem is therefore a national imperative."
Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the HEALTH Act, which, if enacted, would help solve this problem. The AANS and CNS now urge the Senate to likewise and pass strong medical liability reform legislation to ensure that patients have continued access to consistent and quality neurosurgical care.
More information on the medical liability crisis can be found at: http://www.neurosurgery.org/socioeconomic/liabilityreform.html.
The AANS, founded in 1931, and the CNS, founded in 1951, are the two largest scientific and educational associations for neurosurgical professionals in the world. These groups represent approximately 5,200 neurosurgeons in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe and the Pacific Rim. Neurosurgery is the surgical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of disorders that affect the spine, brain, nervous system, and peripheral nerves.
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