Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • COVID-19 Articles
  • Authors
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
    • Open access
  • CMA Members
    • Overview for members
    • Earn CPD Credits
    • Print copies of CMAJ
  • Subscribers
    • General information
    • View prices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
    • Trousse média 2022
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN

User menu

Search

  • Advanced search
CMAJ
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN
CMAJ

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • COVID-19 Articles
  • Authors
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
    • Open access
  • CMA Members
    • Overview for members
    • Earn CPD Credits
    • Print copies of CMAJ
  • Subscribers
    • General information
    • View prices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
    • Trousse média 2022
  • Visit CMAJ on Facebook
  • Follow CMAJ on Twitter
  • Follow CMAJ on Pinterest
  • Follow CMAJ on Youtube
  • Follow CMAJ on Instagram
News

Aussie MDs' malpractice coverage in turmoil

Jennifer Crump
CMAJ July 09, 2002 167 (1) 69;
Jennifer Crump
Smooth Rock Falls, Ont.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Less than a week after stating that it would not help the ailing United Medical Protection (UMP), the Australian government announced interim plans to prop up the country's largest medical malpractice insurer.

UMP, which provides malpractice insurance for more than 60% of the country's doctors, was on the verge of collapse after a jump in the number of claims.

It needed an immediate cash infusion of Aus$30 million when its Board of Directors applied to place the company under provisional liquidation in April. That move immediately put coverage for thousands of physicians into insurance limbo.

Following a massive withdrawal of services by specialists and some very public cries of outrage from the Australian Medical Association (AMA) and the New South Wales minister of health, the federal government reversed its earlier decision.

The deal guaranteed coverage for claims made against UMP-insured doctors between Apr. 29 (when the state liquidator's assistance was requested) and June 30.

The new plan does not address the contentious issue of claims still before the courts or claims that may be brought in the future. Nor does it address the spiralling size of malpractice settlements being awarded by Australian courts — one 23-year-old woman was recently awarded Aus$15 million for events that occurred when she was born.

AMA President Kerryn Phillips says that the government's guarantee provides some short-term certainty for the country's 30 000 doctors, but says the crisis is only “on pause.”

Both the AMA and the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) plan to continue lobbying the government.

The joint statement by the government and AMA makes clear that the collapse of UMP may be inevitable, and if this happens other insurers will have to be found. The government has appointed a liquidator and task force to look at the company's future and the issue of sustainable malpractice insurance.

Commercial insurers have been approached by the government and have indicated a willingness to enter the market if they can be assured they are responsible only for claims made as a result of incidents occurring after their entry. They also want coverage limits set and want state and territorial governments to make changes to tort law to reduce costs.

Alternatives have been offered. RACS President Kingsley Faulkner suggests that doctors fund and run their own collective, as is done with the Canadian Medical Protective Association. “We believe there should be an establishment of a common insurance pool administered by the government, with the premiums coming from the doctors,” he says. — Jennifer Crump, Smooth Rock Falls, Ont.

PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

CMAJ
Vol. 167, Issue 1
9 Jul 2002
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author

Article tools

Respond to this article
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
To sign up for email alerts or to access your current email alerts, enter your email address below:
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on CMAJ.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Aussie MDs' malpractice coverage in turmoil
(Your Name) has sent you a message from CMAJ
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the CMAJ web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Aussie MDs' malpractice coverage in turmoil
Jennifer Crump
CMAJ Jul 2002, 167 (1) 69;

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
‍ Request Permissions
Share
Aussie MDs' malpractice coverage in turmoil
Jennifer Crump
CMAJ Jul 2002, 167 (1) 69;
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • The evolving picture of long COVID
  • When are shared decisions false choices?
  • Q&A: As a doctor in a war zone “you have to come to grips with your limitations”
Show more News

Similar Articles

Collections

  • Topics
    • Medical careers
    • Medicine & the law (including forensic medicine)

 

View Latest Classified Ads

Content

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Collections
  • Sections
  • Blog
  • Podcasts
  • Alerts
  • RSS
  • Early releases

Information for

  • Advertisers
  • Authors
  • Reviewers
  • CMA Members
  • Media
  • Reprint requests
  • Subscribers

About

  • General Information
  • Journal staff
  • Editorial Board
  • Advisory Panels
  • Governance Council
  • Journal Oversight
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Copyright and Permissions
  • Accessibiity
  • CMA Civility Standards
CMAJ Group

Copyright 2022, CMA Impact Inc. or its licensors. All rights reserved. ISSN 1488-2329 (e) 0820-3946 (p)

All editorial matter in CMAJ represents the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the Canadian Medical Association or its subsidiaries.

To receive any of these resources in an accessible format, please contact us at CMAJ Group, 500-1410 Blair Towers Place, Ottawa ON, K1J 9B9; p: 1-888-855-2555; e: cmajgroup@cmaj.ca

Powered by HighWire