DECATUR - Two Decatur obstetricians are retiring early because of issues with medical malpractice insurance.
Drs. Manfred Trostel and Sam Apichai will close their practices at the end of the year. Apichai is insured through the ISMIE Mutual. He said if he wants to practice next year, he would pay $240,000 in premiums, or $20,000 a month. He considers this cost substantial enough to retire early."If this was not an issue, I would probably retire at 60 years old," Apichai said. "Fifty-seven is not a time to retire, but under the circumstances, it's probably the way to go."Trostel is insured by The Doctor's Co., which also insures three Decatur neurosurgeons who are facing a similar problem with their insurance. The neurosurgeons announced last month that their insurance policy would either not be renewed or will be renewed at a price they consider unaffordable.Trostel was informed a couple of months ago that his policy would not be renewed."They're (the insurance company is) trying to gradually move out of the state and, as a result, are not insuring or ceasing completely," Trostel said. "We were notified in October of their decision to curtail writing insurance policies in Illinois because of the malpractice atmosphere, because of the situation in Illinois."Jack Meyer, senior vice president of business development at The Doctor's Co., said the insurance company is endorsed by certain nationwide organizations, such as the American Society of Neurological Surgeons. To increase profitability, the company is not going to write any new non-national program business and also is not going to retain non-national clients in Illinois."What we have done is we have to manage our business to improve profitability," Meyer said. "We're owned by our doctors, and we can't write business at a loss. We have had to move substantial amount of surplus to reserves over the past three years."Why Illinois?"No tort reform," Meyer said. "Tremendous claim severity. We have very adverse loss experience in Illinois. It's impossible to write successfully."Malpractice insurance rates at The Doctor's Co. are based on experiences in the state, and if the actuaries don't have a critical mass of their own experience, they use experience of other carriers who are writing in the state. Obstetricians and neurosurgeons have high claim severity and claim frequency in Illinois, making their rates increase.Because Trostel has been with The Doctor's Co. for more than five years, it pays his "tail coverage" as long as he retires. Tail coverage extends the policy for a period of time after it technically expires. If he continues practicing and a claim is made, then he'd be liable for future premiums. If he chose to go with another insurance company, he would have to wait five years before the company would provide tail coverage. That was enough to make Trostel's mind up to retire.Trostel and Apichai agree some kind of medical malpractice reforms need to be put in place in order to quell the number of doctors leaving their practices because of insurance burdens."They're having to find another physician. That's hard to them because the physicians in town are gradually decreasing because of this malpractice situation," Trostel said. "If we don't get public support behind us, we're going to be in trouble."Erin Randolph can be reached at 421-6968.
