Liability insurance cost provokes physician job action in Pa.

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Physicians across Pennsylvania stopped performing medical procedures and closed offices this week as they initiated a walkout to protest the rising cost of medical liability insurance. This protest follows similar protests earlier this year in West Virginia and New Jersey, where physicians staged walkouts to draw attention to medical liability crisis.

The American Medical Association was expected to be in Pennsylvania to support the action, called the Code Blue Protest. It is also broadcasting a radio advertisement to draw attention to the medical liability issue. According to the AMA, 1,100 physicians have left Pennsylvania because of increasing insurance premiums, which can reach $200,000 a year — 300 times higher than premiums paid in California.

In an interview on National Public Radio, Gov. Ed Rendell said that although he is supportive of physician causes he believes physicians are misguided in undertaking this job action. Last year, he said, state physicians received a $200 million reduction in their catastrophe fund contributions. The state House Assembly also passed a number of liability reforms, he pointed out. But those reforms did not impose caps on noneconomic damages juries can award, which is one of the key limitations physicians are demanding.

Emergency services continue to be offered during the walkout, set to end May 6.