Vermont Risk Retention Group To Insure Kiddie Docs
NU Online News Service, Feb. 23, 1:19 p.m. EST?A new doctor-owned risk retention group, based in Vermont, said it has secured official approval to begin providing malpractice insurance to Florida pediatricians.[@@]
Pediatricians Insurance Risk Retention Group of America, which has more than $1 million in initial backing from member doctors, said it had received notification of registration from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation to begin underwriting medical malpractice insurance.
Creation of the new operation was the work of "hundreds of doctors who decided to stand up and take control of an insurance market in disarray," said Eugene Rosov, president of the risk retention group, as well as Medical Development and Management, Inc.
"With this registration, Florida has recognized their efforts and given approval to a truly unique company which exists only for the benefit of pediatricians and their patients," Mr. Rosov added in an announcement from the group's Miami headquarters.
Medical Development and Management, working with Marsh Management Services Inc. will administer the program under the auspices of the PIRRGA board of directors.
Florida is one of 12 states where the cost of obtaining medical malpractice insurance was identified as reaching crisis proportions, worsened by a loss of malpractice insurance providers and concurrent increases in professional liability premium costs in Florida, according to PIRRGA, citing a recent study by the American Medical Association.
The risk retention group members pool capital and premiums to mutually insure one another. PIRRGA said it will provide Florida pediatricians with a long-term medical malpractice insurance solution with no profit motive. The board is fully independent and serves only the interests of its members. MDMC and Marsh Management Services Inc. oversee the day-to-day operations.
"Our principal advantage is our unique group of members," said Mr. Rosov. "Most of them will be with us for decades. Stable ownership gives us the longest-term management horizon to be found in an insurance company. While the current financial results of PIRRGA are of great importance, we will never allow them to be achieved at the expense of building financial and competitive strengths."
PIRRGA accepts applications from pediatricians and pediatric groups throughout Florida. "Its focus is on helping all members become risk-free and implementing practices which follow the stringent guidelines set by the American Academy of Pediatrics," Mr. Rosov added.
The group said its strategy is designed to produce results that will out-perform industry averages while creating stable, long-term premium pricing. The company offers claims-made insurance policies of up to $250,000 per occurrence, and $750,000 aggregate at cost, with excess profits being returned to policyholders in the form of dividends or distributions.
Membership in PIRRGA is open to individual general pediatricians and groups.
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