How Will the ACA Affect Medical Professional Liability?

With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, many individuals and businesses are left wondering how the new law will affect their life. One major change is already apparent: we have now shifted from a volume-based health care industry into a value-based model.

The medical professional liability field is experiencing extreme changes, including extreme numbers of capacity in this new soft market. They are also left wondering how the expectations of new patients will affect their field, as well as how will obesity and chronic illness rates affect the ACA regulations. Gathered is a list of the top 5 issues that will likely impact the medical professional liability industry as a whole:

1. With every American being required to obtain health insurance, in turn, nearly every American will now be receiving health care. The mere numbers suggest that now, there will be more medical professional liability claims. Likewise, a large majority of Americans now obtaining health care have chronic, untreated illnesses and conditions. Therefore, it is likely that they will be involved in medical professional liability claims. With more people in the field, this impact is inevitable.
2. Many states are looking to reverse and modify medical malpractice caps, which will heavily affect the industry as a whole.
3. The risks of medical malpractice lawsuits may increase since patients who were used to previously receiving personalized health care from a single doctor will no longer experience the same connection. With so many more patients seeking health care, chances are that doctors will need to become more specialized and spend less time “chatting” with their long-term patients so that they can tend to each patient’s needs.
4. Electronic medical record systems not only make daily work for physicians more difficult, but they also expose organizations to cyber risks.
5. Many areas are experiencing physician shortage and depending more on nurses and physician assistants, changing their role completely. At this time, it is unknown how the change in role and responsibilities will affect malpractice cases.

Contact Chivaroli & Associates Insurance Services for all of your health insurance needs. We understand the implications surrounding the Affordable Care Act may be confusing and we are always available to clear up any of its complexities.