Georgia has one of the most competitive medical malpractice insurance markets in the United States. While there have been years of increased claim severity, premiums have reduced due to healthy competition in the Georgia malpractice marketplace. Insurance carriers have consistently reduced their rates over the past decade despite a few relatively small increases in the past few years. Healthcare professionals in Georgia may want to capitalize on this trend by shopping the diverse malpractice insurance marketplace for coverage that can help solve practice goals while providing coverage at a reasonable premium.

Insurance Requirements

Physicians aren’t legally required to carry any malpractice insurance in Georgia. However, hospitals and healthcare facilities typically require their practitioners to carry at least $1,000,000 of coverage per occurrence and $3,000,000 of total coverage per year. A malpractice law that recently went into effect also requires physicians in Georgia to disclose whether they have medical malpractice insurance.

They must inform the Georgia Composite Medical Board about their insurance status, which will be publicly available on their website. Georgia doctors must also divulge this information to any patients who request it. This law helps provide the accountability and transparency that's so important in healthcare, helping to ensure that patients receive adequate compensation for malpractice.

While most Georgia physicians have a medical malpractice insurance policy, some may decide not to pay for coverage because it is too expensive or because they are restricted for some reason. An uninsured physician may be dangerous to a patient at multiple levels. For example, doctors without insurance may have an unsafe history of malpractice. These physicians must pay patients out of their personal assets in the event of a successful medical negligence lawsuit, so they may not be able to cover the entire amount. Transparency and accountability in the medical field is extremely important, and this law is an important step towards ensuring that patients are adequately compensated for medical malpractice lawsuits.

Weight Loss Malpractice Insurance In Georgia

In the dynamic landscape of weight loss solutions, the quest for innovative approaches has led to a surge in demand for weight loss clinics. This trend has, however, posed a challenge in the realm of medical malpractice insurance, particularly for Georgia providers operating with multi-state exposure. The incorporation of cutting-edge treatments like semaglutide, compounded semaglutide, tirzepitide, and Wegovy has presented a unique set of obstacles, with standard market underwriters often denying coverage. Read more about how MedMal Advisors can help find multistate weight loss malpractice insurance.

Georgia Medical Malpractice Insurance Costs

The specific cost of medical malpractice insurance depends on factors such as the physician's prior history of malpractice claims, specialty, and geographic location. In particular, physicians specializing in high-risk specialties need more coverage than those in lower-risk specialties. Insurance premiums also depend on the terms of the policy and its options for coverage, including nose or tail coverage, and occurrence or claims-made coverage. The rates for medical malpractice in Georgia are relatively high compared to the rest of the US. Specialties with the highest risk include obstetrics, especially physicians who perform surgery in this field. As a result, this specialty carries the highest cost of malpractice insurance.

Top Professional Liability Insurance Companies In Georgia

The following are some of the most trusted medical malpractice insurance companies in Georgia: 

• Admiral Insurance Company
• CM&F Group
• Columbia Casualty Company
• Coverys
• Coverys Specialty Insurance Company
• Doctors Company Insurance Group
• Doctors Professional Liability Risk Retention Group, Inc.
• ISMIE Mutual Insurance Company
• Liberty Surplus Insurance Corporation
• Markel Insurance Company
• Medical Protective Company
• ProAssurance Indemnity Company, Inc.
• TDC Specialty Insurance Company
• Tokio Marine HCC

Regulatory Environment

Compensation Fund

Georgia doesn’t have a patient compensation fund. Compensation fund requirements for Georgia providers seeing patients in other states via telemedicine will need to be reviewed as each state has special requirements. Make sure you check the requirements of each state to make sure you comply. 

Statute of Limitations

The statute of limitations on medical malpractice cases in Georgia is typically two years from the date of injury or death. A statute of limitations is a law that defines a window of opportunity for injured parties, during which they’re able to file a lawsuit. Parties lose their right to pursue legal action if they fail to file a claim during this period, making the statute of limitations a critical factor in any lawsuit.

In Georgia, this means your patients can generally file a medical malpractice lawsuit until the second anniversary of the time of injury or when the injury should have been reasonably discovered. However, each case can have its own set of circumstances that can affect the time a patient has to file for medical malpractice. These unique situations make it important to make sure you are protected for the long term with an adequate malpractice insurance policy. Make sure to purchase an occurence malpractice policy or an extended reporting endorsement for your claims-made policies. 

Georgia Malpractice Insurance Tort Reform

Georgia's legislators plan to focus on tort reform when they reconvene in January 2024, which could dramatically affect medical malpractice insurance in that state. A tort is a wrongful act that can result in civil liability, which lawmakers in Georgia have considered reforming for many years. They haven’t passed any significant legislation in this area recently, but the state’s General Assembly is currently pushing for changes such as greater restrictions on liability lawsuits for premises. These reforms would make it more difficult for medical malpractice victims to pursue compensation.

Many lawmakers in Georgia plan to enact legislation during the 2024 session that would prevent property owners from being held responsible for crimes committed on their premises, provided they had no involvement in those crimes. In addition, they may prohibit direct action suits, which occur when plaintiffs sue insurers instead of insured parties. Georgia’s General Assembly also generally favors lower limits on civil suits under the assumption that such restrictions would benefit communities by lowering insurance costs and protecting businesses from abusive lawsuits, which is especially important for the survival of small businesses.

Proponents of tort reform in Georgia feel these changes are needed to reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits, which increase operating costs for both medical practices and insurance providers. This problem also slows the creation of new jobs in this sector.

Claim Data

The National Practitioner Databank (NPDB) is a repository of medical malpractice claim information for healthcare providers in the United States. Following is a summary of data where we can observe the number of malpractice payments, adverse actions, and other disciplinary actions taken against healthcare professionals.

Year	Payment Count	Total Payments	Average Payment	Max Payment	Over 500K Count	Over 1M Count	Over 5M Count
1995	261	$59,128,000	$226,544	$1,950,000	29	9	0
1996	268	$64,865,800	$242,037	$3,050,000	33	6	0
1997	283	$87,232,500	$308,242	$5,250,000	51	9	1
1998	302	$94,595,550	$313,230	$7,350,000	50	13	1
1999	279	$95,009,000	$340,534	$5,450,000	47	16	1
2000	299	$95,470,300	$319,299	$3,650,000	59	12	0
2001	287	$103,315,000	$359,983	$4,950,000	64	17	0
2002	320	$122,016,000	$381,300	$9,950,000	72	17	1
2003	357	$126,044,050	$353,065	$5,750,000	67	22	1
2004	361	$111,266,750	$308,218	$2,750,000	68	10	0
2005	314	$98,584,750	$313,964	$2,950,000	62	17	0
2006	300	$81,401,250	$271,338	$1,450,000	47	3	0
2007	292	$118,872,000	$407,096	$4,950,000	71	20	0
2008	274	$95,365,250	$348,048	$2,950,000	51	8	0
2009	235	$98,309,300	$418,337	$3,950,000	60	16	0
2010	204	$70,863,500	$347,370	$1,950,000	49	10	0
2011	235	$80,110,000	$340,894	$4,550,000	42	8	0
2012	208	$83,654,000	$402,183	$2,950,000	52	12	0
2013	230	$95,054,750	$413,282	$4,450,000	55	14	0
2014	234	$103,167,550	$440,887	$2,950,000	68	15	0
2015	265	$105,123,000	$396,691	$3,450,000	65	10	0
2016	235	$112,925,100	$480,532	$4,950,000	66	23	0
2017	273	$140,096,500	$513,174	$3,950,000	98	17	0
2018	318	$146,485,250	$460,645	$4,550,000	93	20	0
2019	317	$145,816,500	$459,989	$4,350,000	98	19	0
2020	232	$142,394,750	$613,770	$6,850,000	88	24	2
2021	209	$99,782,100	$477,426	$6,650,000	66	18	1
2022	260	$163,242,750	$627,857	$6,850,000	104	26	2
2023	331	$201,147,250	$607,696	$5,150,000	139	25	3

The NPDB claim data for Georgia reveals a significant trend in healthcare-related payments over the years. As of Feb 2023, the numbers have consistently increased, reaching a peak in 2022 with 260 payments amounting to an astonishing $163,187,750, and an average payment of $627,645. 

Over the years, there has been a noticeable rise in payments exceeding certain thresholds. In 1995, 29 payments were over $500,000, and 9 exceeded $1 million. Fast forward to 2022, and the numbers have surged dramatically, with 104 payments surpassing $500,000, 26 exceeding $1 million, and 2 going beyond $5 million.

The data reflects a dynamic landscape, indicating both an increase in healthcare-related payments and a notable rise in higher-value claims. This information could be crucial for healthcare professionals, policymakers, and researchers looking to understand and address the evolving trends in healthcare payments in Georgia.

Summary

The medical malpractice insurance market is highly competitive in Georgia. Rates have continued to drop despite the end of caps for non-economic damages, which were in place for that state from 2005 to 2010. The number of indemnity payments has also declined over the last decade, even though the average indemnity payment in Georgia is still above the national average. 

Sources

1. https://www.forthepeople.com/blog/georgia-medical-malpractice-law-requires-insurance-disclosure-doctors/
2. https://www.tolsonfirm.com/medical-malpractice/statute-of-limitations/#:~:text=In%20Georgia%2C%20the%20statute%20of,lawsuit%20in%20pursuit%20of%20compensation
3. https://www.johnfoy.com/blog/georgia-braces-for-tort-reform-battle/