Physician retirees find it costly to volunteer services: malpractice insurance is barrier. (Practice Trends).
Retired physicians across the country are discovering that it can get expensive to volunteer their services at a free clinic. Dr. Martin Gonzalez, a retired physician in Oak Park, Ill., was turned away from a homeless shelter after he offered his medical services for free. "They said...

INEFFECTIVE INSURANCE POOLS.
High-risk insurance pools offered by states haven't done much to help the uninsured, a Commonwealth Fund report says. High-risk pools in 29 states insure about 110,000 people who have been denied coverage from private insurers, are eligible for individual coverage under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of...

POST IRAQ WAR AND SARS CRISIS RECOVERY PLAN BARED; Thailand starts to offer US$100,000 free death insurance coverage to every tourist.
Byline: CORNELIO R. DE GUZMAN Like other Asian countries that suffered from the severe impact on tourism of the War in Iraq as well as the SARS crisis, Thailand has embarked on a major recovery campaign to entice tourists to visit the country once again. ...

CSPA meets in Chicago: the association mounts a vigorous response to a host of new challenges.
A SLUGGISH U.S. ECONOMY is wreaking havoc with state budgets and regulators in turn have tried to make up for the shortfalls by taxing industry. In this type of atmosphere, the efforts of the Consumer Specialty Product Association (CSPA) and related groups are needed more than ever, said CSPA...

Physicians urge senate to pass malpractice reform. (Cap on Noneconomic Damages).
NEW ORLEANS -- Representatives of three major medical organizations joined forces at the annual meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and urged the U.S. Senate to pass tort reform capping noneconomic damages at $250,000 in medical malpractice cases. H.R. 5, the HEALTH Act (Help...

New CPT codes pay for vaccine administration.
A long anticipated set of new CPT codes recognizes the counseling work involved in administering injectable immunizations to children and adolscents. "This is great news for physicians who give vaccines," Joel Bradley, M.D., of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Coding and Nomenclature, and medical director...

Malpractice fears drive obstetricians to quit.
One in seven fellows with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has stopped practicing obstetrics because of the risk of medical liability claims, an ACOG survey found. Of the fellows surveyed, 14% said that the risk of liability claims or lawsuits forced them to stop doing...

Acog survey: liability woes threaten career choice, satisfaction.
PHILADELPHIA -- Liability concerns and the cost of professional liability insurance are the strongest threats to career satisfaction among ob.gyns., according to a national survey of members of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. The survey examined the effect of medical liability concerns, managed care restrictions,...

INEFFECTIVE INSURANCE POOLS.
High-risk insurance pools offered by states haven't done much to help the uninsured, a Commonwealth Fund report says. High-risk pools exist in 29 states and insure about 110,000 people who have been denied coverage from private insurers, are eligible for individual coverage under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability...

Insurance company software.
Below are paid listings of specialty software packages for insurance companies, risk managers and brokers. This guide is not intended to be a complete director but is an overview of some of the packages available. Suppliers themselves have provided this data. To obtain more information on any of the...