The shift from single or small groups of physicians’ practice to multispecialty and multistate physician networks and hospitals will likely drive a change in the Medical Professional Liability (MPL) insurance sector, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

Alan Murray, vice president at Moody’s and author of the report, says there will be a “shift in market share toward MPL (also known as Medical Malpractice) insurers with multispecialty and multistate underwriting and claim-servicing capabilities for both individual medical practitioners and institutional health-care organizations over time.”

Health care is becoming more institutional in its delivery of services and “more corporate in its oversight and governance,” says the report. Given the difference in coverage needs for individual medical professionals and institutional providers, “Moody’s finds that the participation in the MPL sector by specialty MPL underwriters—for whom the MPL line is their predominant business line—is more significant in the individual practitioner and small-to-medium group market.

Multiline and multistate underwriters will gradually have a greater share of the institutional market, Moody’s says.

The combined ratio in the sector has dropped from more than 140 in 2001 to about 60 in 2010, leading to ample margins in MPL insurers’ reserves.

Special Reports /

Med Mal Insurance May Evolve to More Institutional Health Care System

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