Hospitals move to provide own insurance
By By Steve Gillespie / staff writer
April 24, 2003
Many hospitals in the state are working to provide their own medical liability insurance with Lloyd's of London to act as a "reinsurer."
Sam Cameron, president of the Mississippi Hospital Association, said the association is forming its own medical liability insurance source, primarily for hospitals.
The proposed name of the new insurance company is Healthcare Providers Insurance Company.
Larry Bourne, a prospective employee of the new group, said the proposed name is being checked to make sure it does not infringe on any other established companies.
Bourne works for The Reciprocal Group, an insurance carrier based in Virginia that went into receivership earlier this year. The Reciprocal Group was the dominant carrier of medical liability insurance for hospitals in Mississippi.
Reciprocal was also member-owned, but it covered about five different southeastern states, Bourne said. The new organization, according to Bourne and Cameron, will be licensed in South Carolina and Mississippi.
Bourne said a meeting with several hospitals is being planned in May.
Donnie Smith, corporate director of human resources and public relations for Rush Health Systems ,said Wednesday that representatives of Rush Foundation Hospital will see what the new group has to offer.
Glenda Sanders, spokesperson for Riley Hospital, said the new company will not apply to Riley, because it is already self-insured through its parent company, Health Management Associates based in Naples, Florida.
Cameron said he hopes the insurance will be available by June 1. He said some physicians will be able to get coverage from the new source, but the process would be very selective. He declined to explain the selection process.
He said the state's hospitals are aware of the association's efforts and are eager to take advantage of it, but he said it addresses the accessibility not the affordability of medical liability insurance.
DID YOU KNOW?
Reinsurance is an agreement between one company that assumes most of the risk with a policy, in this case the proposed Healthcare Providers Insurance Company, and another company, in this case Lloyd's of London, that is responsible for the rest of the claim. It is often referred to as "insurance for insurance companies."
