Why Utah Physicians choose My Medical Malpractice Insurance:
- You’ll receive multiple Medical Malpractice Insurance quotes from A-rated Medical Malpractice Insurers in Utah.
- You’ll receive all available physician discounts for which you’re eligible: Risk Management, Claims-free, New to Practice.
- Your Prior Acts Coverage will be included - you won’t have to purchase separate tail coverage.
- Your policy will be customized by our experienced liability specialists to meet your specific needs.
- You’ll have access to our free Practice Tools: Online Patient Satisfaction Survey System, Certified Professional Healthcare Risk Manager (CPHRM) on staff, plus various other tools to help you manage your practice.
- We've joined forces with the Medical Liability Monitor (the nation's leading independent source of Medical Liability Insurance news as well as the political, legal and risk management issues that affect the healthcare industry) in publishing historical rate data for every city in the Beehive State. This information offers you insights into Utah's data trends that will assist you greatly when you’re making your decisions on your professional liability carrier and coverage. That’s yet another reason that MyMedicalMalpracticeInsurance.com is now the preferred source online for Utah physicians looking for ways to find the best coverage while lowering their medical malpractice insurance rates.
- Click and request your free Utah Medical Malpractice Insurance Quote today.
Medical Malpractice Insurance in Utah
Medical malpractice insurance coverage is expensive in Utah. Base rate premiums for high-risk specialties—such as obstetrics, neurosurgery and orthopedic surgery of the spine—exceed $100,000 annually, but Utah physicians are hopeful medical malpractice insurance rate relief is is in the near future after reforms enacted in 2010 take hold.
Utah’s struggle to reign-in the escalating costs of medical malpractice insurance began in 1975, when a tidal wave of malpractice litigation drove-up insurance rates across the nation and many insurers decided to exit the market. In response, the Utah legislature enacted the Utah Health Care Malpractice Act, which established a framework to define and govern the handling of medical malpractice actions. Since its enactment in 1976, the Utah Health Care Malpractice Act has been frequently amended.
A decade after the Health Care Malpractice Act was signed into law, Utah amended the legislation to include a $250,000 cap on non-economic damages. Long considered the holy grail of tort reforms, the cap on non-economic damages did much to stabilize medical professional liability insurance premiums in the state. The amended legislation also ended joint-and-several liability, so that a defendant could only be held liable for their portion of fault, and required a pre-litigation panel hearing that would screen all claims and determine which had merit to move forward.
In 1999, the Utah Healthcare Malpractice Act was amended to include a section on arbitration. The new legislation set forth a number of requirements where a physician and patient could agree prior to procedure that—should a claim arise—binding arbitration would be employed to reach settlement. These requirements included that the patient must be given a written and verbal explanation of arbitration, the patient’s responsibility for related costs under the agreement must be disclosed, how the arbitrators would be selected must be described and the right of the patient to decline to enter into the agreement and still receive healthcare must be clear. From 1999 to 2003, arbitration agreements between physician and patient were becoming increasingly common within the Utah healthcare community, and in 2003, the physician lobby pushed for legislation that would allow physicians to terminate their relationship with patients who would not sign away their right to a jury trial. After considerable public backlash against the proposed law, and a state supreme court case in which the court refused to enforce an arbitration agreement, the idea of mandating arbitration prior to the performance of a healthcare service was abandoned.
Under significant pressure from the trial lawyer lobby, the Utah legislature returned to the non-economic damage cap in 2001. Recognizing that the cap’s dollar amount remained static since its inception 15 years prior, lawmakers increased the cap to $400,000 for causes of action arising on or after July 1, 2001, and this new cap would adjust with inflation. All causes of action prior to July 1, 2001, would still be subject to the previous $250,000 cap.
In 2004, the Health Care Malpractice Act’s non-economic damage cap passed its most significant hurdle. Like almost every other damage cap imposed by a state, its constitutionality was challenged and ultimately reached the Utah Supreme Court. In Judd v. Drezga, the state’s highest court upheld the existing limit on non-economic damages. Analyzing the plaintiff’s challenges, including the argument that the damages cap violated the state’s separation of powers doctrine, the court considered the legislature's purpose in enacting the cap, writing: “The legislature imposed this cap because it was convinced that doing so would limit malpractice insurance costs for medical professionals, thereby helping to control excessively high medical care costs and health insurance premiums paid by most citizens and assuring a continued supply of medical care to all. This was a policy choice made by the legislature, as is its duty... The damage cap represents law to be applied, not an improper usurpation of jury prerogatives. Consequently, it does not violate the separation of powers provision of the constitution.”
On March 23, 2010, Gov. Gary Herbert signed into law two amendments to the Utah Healthcare Malpractice Act. These amendments included establishing a hard cap (no adjustments for inflation) of $450,000 on non-economic damages and the requiring of an affidavit of merit in medical malpractice cases. These amendments are considered the strongest reforms since the initial enactment of the non-economic damage cap in 1986.
Under the new amendments, in a malpractice action against a healthcare provider, the injured plaintiff may recover non-economic losses to compensate for pain and suffering, but the total loss cannot exceed $450,000. This new hard cap removed any adjustment of the cap due to inflation. The previous cap—which included provisions for inflation adjustment—had grown since its 2001 inception from $400,000 to $480,000. Tort reform advocates argued that the hard cap would provide greater predictability, which would allow medical professional liability insurers to keep policy premiums in check.
The affidavit of merit portion of the 2010 amendments updated the pre-litigation panel process instituted in 1985. The most significant change is a requirement that a plaintiff obtain an “affidavit of merit” prior to a lawsuit being filed. This requirement applies if the pre-litigation hearing panel finds that the claim lacks merit, either for lack of breach of the standard of care or for lack of resulting damage. The affidavit of merit must consists of two affidavits: (1) the attorney must execute an affidavit stating that the attorney or claimant has consulted with and reviewed the facts of the case with a healthcare provider who has determined after review of the medical records and other relevant information “that there is a reasonable and meritorious cause for the filing of a medical liability action”; (2) the affidavit of merit must also include an affidavit signed by a healthcare provider appropriately licensed in the same specialty as the defendant. Essentially, the affidavit of merit functions as a second opinion to the pre-litigation panel’s conclusions. If the panel finds merit, the affidavit of merit is not required; however, if the panel finds the claim non-meritorious, then the claimant must produce sworn expert opinion testimony supporting the claim before filing suit.
Medical malpractice insurance is expensive in Utah, but tort reform proponents promise that the recent 2010 amendments to the state’s Healthcare Malpractice Act will have a deflating effect on premiums n the near future. This is why it is critical to a physician’s business success to employ the help of an experienced medical liability insurance broker when shopping for malpractice coverage. Only a broker specializing in this segment of the industry will be able to ensure you get the best coverage at the best price.
Click to receive your free Utah Medical Malpractice Insurance quote.
UTAH
Physician Medical Malpractice Insurance Rates
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
| 2000 |
| AREA | INTERNAL MEDICINE (% change since last survey) |
GENERAL SURGERY (% change since last survey) |
OB/GYN (% change since last survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entire state | $5,665 0% |
$24,994 0% |
$42,146 0% |
| 2001 |  |
| AREA | INTERNAL MEDICINE (% change since last survey) |
GENERAL SURGERY (% change since last survey) |
OB/GYN (% change since last survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entire state | $5,944 +5% |
$26,242 +5% |
$44,251 +5% |
| 2002 | |
| AREA | INTERNAL MEDICINE (% change since last survey) |
GENERAL SURGERY (% change since last survey) |
OB/GYN (% change since last survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entire state |
$10,569 +24.7% |
$39,104 +24.7% |
$46,925 +24.7% |
| AREA | INTERNAL MEDICINE (% change since last survey) |
GENERAL SURGERY (% change since last survey) |
OB/GYN (% change since last survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entire state | $7,920 +35% |
$35,476 35% |
$60,074 +35% |
| 2003 | |
| AREA | INTERNAL MEDICINE (% change since last survey) |
GENERAL SURGERY (% change since last survey) |
OB/GYN (% change since last survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entire state | $8,054 0% |
$36,077 0% |
$61,088 0% |
| AREA | INTERNAL MEDICINE (% change since last survey) |
GENERAL SURGERY (% change since last survey) |
OB/GYN (% change since last survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entire state | $9,418 19% |
$50,332 42% |
$71,027 18% |
| 2004 | |
| AREA | INTERNAL MEDICINE (% change since last survey) |
GENERAL SURGERY (% change since last survey) |
OB/GYN (% change since last survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entire state | $10,801 14.7% |
$57,796 14.8% |
$81,628 14.9% |
| AREA | INTERNAL MEDICINE (% change since last survey) |
GENERAL SURGERY (% change since last survey) |
OB/GYN (% change since last survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entire state | $9,617 19.4% |
$55,786 54.6% |
$78,731 28.9% |
| 2005 | |
| AREA | INTERNAL MEDICINE (% change since last survey) |
GENERAL SURGERY (% change since last survey) |
OB/GYN (% change since last survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entire state | $11,359 5.0% |
$60,649 5.0% |
$85,647 5.0% |
| AREA | INTERNAL MEDICINE (% change since last survey) |
GENERAL SURGERY (% change since last survey) |
OB/GYN (% change since last survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entire state | $9,617 0% |
$55,786 0% |
$78,731 0% |
| 2006 | |
| AREA | INTERNAL MEDICINE (% change since last survey) |
GENERAL SURGERY (% change since last survey) |
OB/GYN (% change since last survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entire state | $11,359 0% |
$60,649 0% |
$85,647 0% |
| AREA | INTERNAL MEDICINE (% change since last survey) |
GENERAL SURGERY (% change since last survey) |
OB/GYN (% change since last survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entire state | $9,087 -5.5% |
$48,522 -13.0% |
$68,520 -13.0% |
| 2007 | |
| AREA | INTERNAL MEDICINE (% change since last survey) |
GENERAL SURGERY (% change since last survey) |
OB/GYN (% change since last survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entire state | $12,496 10.0% |
$64,903 7.0% |
$91,463 6.8% |
| AREA | INTERNAL MEDICINE (% change since last survey) |
GENERAL SURGERY (% change since last survey) |
OB/GYN (% change since last survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entire state | $9,087 0% |
$48,522 0% |
$68,520 0% |
| 2008 | |
| AREA | INTERNAL MEDICINE (% change since last survey) |
GENERAL SURGERY (% change since last survey) |
OB/GYN (% change since last survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entire state | $13,008 4% |
$67,564 4% |
$95,213 4% |
| AREA | INTERNAL MEDICINE (% change since last survey) |
GENERAL SURGERY (% change since last survey) |
OB/GYN (% change since last survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entire state | $8,510 -6% |
$44,201 -9% |
$62,285 -9% |
| 2009 | |
| AREA | INTERNAL MEDICINE (% change since last survey) |
GENERAL SURGERY (% change since last survey) |
OB/GYN (% change since last survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entire state | $13,008 0% |
$67,564 0% |
$95,213 0% |
| AREA | INTERNAL MEDICINE (% change since last survey) |
GENERAL SURGERY (% change since last survey) |
OB/GYN (% change since last survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entire state | $8,510 0% |
$44,201 0% |
$62,285 0% |
To find the most current medical malpractice insurance rates in Utah, contact Mike Matray at the Medical Liability Monitor. MyMedicalMalpracticeInsurance.com has negotiated an excellent rate for all of our users, mention our site, and you can receive the Medical Liability Monitor at a low promotional price.
Medical Liability and Adverse Medical Events