AREA MALPRACTICE CRISIS EASES UP
July 18, 2004 14:13

For the past two years, the operative word in medical
care in Madison and St. Clair, Illinois, counties
has been "fewer." Fewer physicians. Fewer insurance
companies to cover them. Fewer emergency room
services. But signs are emerging to suggest the worst
may be over on the medical malpractice insurance
front. The dollar amount of losses on claims incurred
by insurance companies fell in Madison and St. Clair
counties in 2003 compared with the year before, state
figures show. And some large medical malpractice
insurers are accepting new customers statewide, while
others - after years of double - and triple-digit
percentage increases for some specialties - are
keeping rates flat. "We have not had any rate
increases filed with us in the past couple of
months," said Mike Hessler, deputy director of the
state's insurance division, formerly the Illinois
Department of Insurance. On July 1, several state
departments were placed under the oversight of the
Illinois Department of Financial and Professional
Regulation as separate divisions.

Mike Fitzgerald, Belleville News-Democrat, 07/18/2004
For complete story, see http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/2004/07/18/news/9187045.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp