Malpractice Insurance
My Mom mentioned this to me on the phone last night when we were talking about the Apprentice. She asked what my wife's malpractice insurance was going to be like, because she had heard that it was getting pretty expensive and that some doctors in Illinois were trying to go without it.

Unable or unwilling to pay soaring malpractice insurance premiums, more Illinois doctors are taking the extreme step of dropping their coverage.

"Going bare" is a big risk for physicians, who leave themselves vulnerable to high-priced settlements, judgments and legal fees should they be sued--a prospect all physicians who care for patients face at least once in their career, according to the American Medical Association.

But some doctors say gambling on a lawsuit seems like a better bet than guaranteed annual insurance premiums now surpassing $200,000 for some specialties.

"This is the only way I can stay here and take care of patients," said Dr. Mark Macumber, a family physician in Berwyn.

Macumber, 36, dropped his insurance last year when his annual premium quadrupled to $40,000 from $10,000 in 2002, making it nearly impossible for him to keep his coverage in the face of huge medical school debt and other bills.

Macumber asks patients to sign a consent form making them aware that he does not have coverage.

"If they sue me, there is not much to take, I inform them. I have $130,000 in medical school debt," Macumber said. "The risk for seeing me is there's no $1 million pot. The benefit is that they can afford to see me."

It seems like the only logical thing that you can cut out. You can't really pass along the increase to your patients, since the insurance companies cap the reimbursement for various procedures.