AMA Policy Paper Shows Hike in Medical Liability Premiums March 31, 2021

AMA research shared widely shows that medical liability premium changes in select markets portend increases across the country.

The Policy Research Perspective (PRP), seen here, analyzes data from the Medical Liability Monitor. To quote the PRP, MLM "is considered the most comprehensive source of data on MPL premiums from a national perspective". Looking at the data, the PRP notes that in the past two years, the proportions of premiums that increased year-to-year mirrored increases in the 2000s, which is bad news for medical practices. 

The author states that the biggest finding for the PRP is that more MPL premiums increased in 2020 than any year since 2005. Between 2018 and 2019, 25.6% of premiums increased, followed by another 31.1% in 2020. This means the past three years saw premium increases and with the disruptions COVID-19 has brought to healthcare, it is likely 2021 will see additional increases.

The PRP looks at two states contiguous to the District, Maryland and Virginia. Premiums in Maryland increased 18.8% between 2019 and 2020, with the largest increase 20%. Virginia "only" saw a 1.3% increase in that time, but their largest noted increase was 26.7%. The author says this shows Virginia had more extremes in increases. 

The author concludes the paper by noting that MPL premiums go up and down in cycles. However, 2021 will be informative as to whether rates will increase as they did in the early 2000s, which is considered the last major "hard market".