PM Transcripts

The Government will convene, in early 2002, a high-level forum on medical indemnity insurance with the aim of developing a coordinated approach to issues including re-insurance, prudential arrangements, litigation and settlement levels.
Commonwealth and State governments and other key stakeholders such as insurers and the legal and medical professions will be involved .
Such cooperative action is the only way to ensure fairness for claimants in a sustainable situation in which doctors, especially doctors in rural and regional areas, are not discouraged from practising because of rapid rises in insurance premiums.
The forum will also have an important role in informing the wider community of the reasons for premium increases and the scope for, and cost of, addressing them.
The Government is concerned about recently announced increases in medical indemnity premiums, which were largely driven by a complex and unusual mix of international and domestic events affecting all types of insurance.
However, the Government is aware of a broader range of both specific and systemic problems that also affect the sustainability and affordability of medical indemnity insurance. One of the factors contributing to the rising costs is the increasing tendency for consumers to resort to litigation where problems arise following medical procedures.
The development of appropriate policy responses to these issues presents serious challenges, because of the complexity of contributing factors and the range of interested stakeholders, including not only Commonwealth and State Governments but also patients, doctors, insurers and other groups.
The Commonwealth has already acted to address some of these issues through proposed taxation changes to encourage the use of structured settlements. Consultation on legislation to deliver these changes will occur early next year.