Loss of Malpractice Insurance for Volunteer Nebraska Doctors Could Hurt Indigent Care System

In a development that could affect the indigent care system in Nebraska, retired doctors who volunteer to provide care to low-income and uninsured Nebraska residents will no longer be able to receive inexpensive malpractice coverage from a "major" insurer in the state, the Omaha World-Herald reports. St. Paul Co., which had been one of the only insurance companies in Nebraska to cover retired doctors, announced earlier this year that it is abandoning its malpractice insurance business altogether. St. Paul offered inexpensive policies -- costing $100 per year -- that limited the doctors to performing "simple medical tests and procedures," basic services that are needed at area indigent-care clinics. To help volunteers find other policies for volunteer doctors, the Nebraska Medical Association is negotiating with other malpractice insurance companies to find additional policies with "affordable" rates. Next year, the organization might push for a state law that would allow retired doctors to practice without malpractice insurance and exempt them from malpractice suits, so long as they do not receive payment for their services. Other states have similar laws, which require patients to sign statements "making them aware of the exemptions," the World-Herald reports. In Nebraska, past attempts to pass legislation exempting volunteer doctors from malpractice insurance regulations have failed. Seven other states lack "some form" of volunteer physician immunity, according to Volunteers in Health Care, a national not-for-profit organization for volunteer-based health care services (Olson, Omaha World-Herald, 4/17).