Knowledge is Power

We have compiled the following data on Illinois’ Medical Malpractice Insurance Marketplace. Our primary source of claims data is the most recent medical malpractice claims report by the Illinois Division of Insurance - 2005 Medical Malpractice Claims Report, published in April, 2006 which can be downloaded here.

You can also find a variety of reports and summaries of premium and loss ratios for all insurance companies doing business in Illinois and the 2001 Medical Malpractice Claims Study (all published by The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulations, Division of Insurance) here.

Background on Crisis: Did you know?

A Crisis hit Illinois in the early 2000’s. The crisis was given numerous labels by opposing parties seeking to deflect blame for causing the crisis – “liability crisis”, “litigation crisis”, “medical lawsuit crisis”, “insurance crisis”. Whatever label you use, the result was an “Availability Crisis” because Illinois physicians were left without a competitive insurance market.

The medical malpractice insurance market has since settled down thanks in part to the passage of Public Act 94-677 - commonly referred to as Illinois’ tort reform legislation. Since the recent Cook County Circuit Court ruling that these reforms are unconstitutional, many people are forecasting “skyrocketing” malpractice costs, restrictions on access to care, and doctors fleeing Illinois, again.

This time things will be different if Illinois finds itself in another “liability, litigation, lawsuit, insurance crisis”. Illinois physicians will not face an “availability crisis” and will have access to affordable malpractice coverage, because:

In 2005 a small group of concerned Illinois physicians, lawyers, and business people decided to stop blaming each other for the “crisis” and instead created a solution. That solution is Doctors Direct Insurance, an Illinois Insurance Company insuring Illinois Physicians.

Illinois’ highest quality physicians deserve competitively priced coverage. More importantly Illinois’ highest quality physicians deserve the consistency, reliability, and stability of another Illinois malpractice insurance company.

Doctors Direct Insurance will be here, even if Tort Reform is not.