The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has dropped its Order for The Doctors Co. (TDC) to lower its filed rates by 15 percent. The rates proposed by the medical malpractice insurer back in Dec. 2014 will remain the same as filed, according to the company.
A hearing, which was requested by TDC after OIR ordered the California-based company to amend its filing with the new rates, was canceled and a Final Order was issued by OIR on Oct. 15 stating that the office had rescinded its original Order.
TDC’s original rate filing for its “Physicians, Surgeons and Ancillary Healthcare Providers Professional Liability Program,” requested no rate changes on both new and renewal lines of business effective June 1, when it was submitted last year. OIR notified the company several months later that the filing was not approved and instead ordered TDC to submit a new filing with a 15 percent rate reduction.
In the “Notice of Intent to Disapprove” sent to TDC, OIR stated that “the trend in the filing appears to be excessive” and that “the loading in the filing for accrual of death, disability and retirement benefits at no additional charge is not supported to be not excessive.”
TDC subsequently requested a hearing with OIR, which was originally set to occur in October but was later rescheduled for November.
“The Doctors Company requested a hearing with the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) because, although we followed the same annual rate filing process we have for years and requested a zero increase this year, the OIR recently took the unusual step of ordering The Doctors Company to reduce rates,” Robert E. White, Jr., senior vice president and regional operating officer for The Doctors Co., said in a statement to Insurance Journal in July.
However, during the discovery phase before the hearing, OIR said TDC provided evidence as to why the proposed rates were acceptable.
“During the discovery phase of the administrative proceeding, The Doctors alleged that report year data is the proper data to use to estimate the severity trend for their rate indication. The Doctors also provided evidence that the closure year severity trend data it provided in the Filings was affected by at least several substantial claims payments generated from policies that were written before the enactment of the $500,000 cap on non-economic damages. Complete information should have been submitted to the [OIR] in the Filings for the [OIR] to determine whether the rates were excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory,” the Final Order stated.
A joint motion from OIR and TDC was granted by the Florida Department of Administrative Hearings on Oct. 13 to relinquish jurisdiction over the matter so OIR could rescind its Order for TDC to raise its rates.
The Final Order stated TDC’s rates will be reevaluated in its annual rate filing that is to be submitted by Dec. 31, 2015.
Topics Florida
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
FBI Says Chinese Hackers Preparing to Attack US Infrastructure 
Chubb to Acquire MGA Healthy Paws From Aon 
Why New York’s Attorney General Objects to Trump’s Bond Insurer 
Uncertainty Keeps Prices Up; No Prior-Year Loss Development: Travelers 
