Malpractice Woes Frustrate Fla. Doctors

By DAVID ROYSE
Jun 26, 2003 : 6:36 am ET

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- With the Legislature having quit a special session this week unable to agree on how to make malpractice insurance more affordable for doctors, many lawmakers and physicians are in the same frustrated frame of mind.

Doctors say they can't continue to practice -- and with the Legislature so far unable to help lower their insurance rates, they are renewing warnings that many may simply close their offices and move out of state.

While critics say it's a veiled threat meant to intimidate legislators, doctors say they're weary of legislative inaction and can't promise they'll all still be here at the end of the year.

"Doctors are very exasperated and what's going to happen I have no idea," Florida Medical Association CEO Sandra Mortham said Wednesday.

Patrick Hinton, executive director of a much smaller group, the Jacksonville Orthopedic Institute, also doesn't know what will happen if the 22 doctors there don't get relief on their rates, which are scheduled to go up by more than half in September.

"We know we can't tolerate those kinds of increases," said Hinton. "What we will do ultimately if we don't get anything done, I have no idea, but I will tell you it's not an issue we can continue to deal with."

The Legislature gave up Tuesday after a week in special session trying to fix the crisis. Both the Senate and House propose to try to lower rates in part by limiting lawsuit damages, which the insurance industry blames for high premiums. But they can't agree on how to cap damages.

Two physicians at the Jacksonville Orthopedic Institute are talking about leaving, Hinton said, echoing a refrain heard around the state for nearly a year now: If something isn't done, access to health care is in jeopardy for many patients.

State Sen. Dennis Jones said he isn't buying the threat. Jones is a chiropractor in St. Petersburg, and just down the street a new ophthalmology practice has opened with several doctors.

Jones said it seems to him that there are lots of new doctors looking for patients, and he said the numbers bear that out.

"Last year 1,249 medical doctors passed the state board," said Jones. "These new people aren't coming to Florida to take the Florida board and then go practice in Wyoming."

There aren't any firm estimates of how many doctors have left Florida because of higher insurance rates.

"The doctors are not taking out a full page ad saying, 'I'm leaving the state,'" said Mortham. "They're very quietly closing their offices."

Florida Hospital Association lobbyist Bill Bell said hospitals are having a hard time keeping doctors too. Most are trying to hold out as long as possible, he said.

"(To leave) goes against their natural grain," Bell said. "They're trying to do the best they can and provide the community with as much care as they can give."