Insurance Reform Saves Doctors Millions
California's 1988 voter-enacted insurance reform law, Proposition 103, has saved physicians and other medical providers hundreds of millions of dollars by regulating the premiums insurance companies are allowed to charge. While doctors' premiums skyrocketed in the 13 years after the state imposed legal restrictions on the rights of injured patients, premiums dropped and stabilized in the years following passage of Prop 103. Read the report.
This page links to state documents and news releases illustrating how Prop 103 has been used to block proposed premium increases and to force insurers to refund premium to doctors. To learn more about Prop 103 visit FTCR's insurance page.
Prop. 103 Saves California's Midwives $5,000 Annually
Mar 4, 2005
California Group Blocks $7 Million Rate Hike Proposed by California's 2nd Largest Medical Malpractice Insurer
Prop. 103 Prevents The Doctors Company's 5% Rate Increase
Sep 16, 2004
California Group Successfully Challenges 29.2% Rate Hike Proposed by California's Ninth Largest Medical Malpractice Insurer
Proposition 103 Invoked to Slash Medical Protective Company's Requested Increase by 60%
Dec 19, 2003
FTCR Stops '04 Medical Malpractice Rate Hike By CA's 2nd Largest Insurer, Saving Doctors $11 Million
Prop 103 Again Blocks SCPIE From Gouging Physicians
Oct 6, 2003
California's Largest Medical Malpractice Insurer - NORCAL Mutual - to Slash Rate Hike by $11.6 Million After Group Challenges Increase
40% of State's Doctors Save $35 Million in Wake of Recent Proposition 103 Challenges to Top Companies' Proposed Hikes
Sep 3, 2003
Nation's First Challenge to Medical Malpractice Insurance Rate Hike Saves California Doctors $23 Million
State Insurance Commissioner Rules 2nd Largest Med Mal Insurer's Increase Request Excessive, In Violation of Proposition 103 Regulations
Original Documents
Pursuant to Proposition 103, insurance companies were ordered to rollback rates to 20% lower than 1987 premiums. In order to comply with the law, insurance companies -- after unsuccessfully challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 103 -- provided refunds to policyholders for past overcharges. Medical malpractice insurers were among the first companies to comply with this provision of the law, refunding approximately $100 million to California health care providers.
Below are links to the original press releases from the California Department of Insurance announcing the rollbacks and the legal stipulation signed by the Insurance Commissioner and the companies consumating the refunds.
Key California Department of Insurance News Releases From 1991-1994
In order to comply with California insurance reform Prop 103, medical malpractice insurers refunded millions to physicians. These file includes some of the original press releases announcing the refunds.
Stipulations and Consent Orders Concerning Prop 103 Rollbacks
In 1992 California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi settled rate rollback cases with three of California's largest medical malpractice insurers - Norcal Mutual, SCPIE and The Doctors Co. This document contains the signed stipulations and consent orders.
