Fla. hospitals ease insurance rules. (Medical Liability Crisis).

Bowing to the pressures of the medical liability crisis, some hospitals in central and southern Florida are letting their physicians "go bare."

They won't be naked. As long as Florida physicians can cover a malpractice claim of $250,000, they can practice without medical malpractice insurance, due to a state law that allows them to do so through a bond, line of credit, or escrow account.

Although insurance remains an option, medical staff have been approaching their hospitals and saying, "let us practice under the self-insured route," Dr. Frank Farmer, president of the Florida Medical Association, told this newspaper.

University Community Hospital in Tampa has waived its insurance requirement and now allows physicians to cover themselves through other means. The new system "makes sense, UCH chief of staff Dr. Sharad Patel told this newspaper. Instead of paying $124,000 a year for malpractice insurance, Dr. Patel said he will have enough money saved in escrow to meet the $250,000 mark in 2 years. That money will be available in the event he gets sued.

The policy applies to 800 physicians who are either part of UCH staff or serve as consultants to the hospital. Many are surgeons or ob.gyns., but at least half are internists, pediatricians, or family physicians, Dr. Patel said.

It's not the first choice a physician would make, but in light of the growing medical liability crisis in the United States, "they don't have many other options," Dr. Farmer said.

The American Medical Association recently reported that at least 12 states are facing a medical liability crisis, with physician liability insurance premiums increasing by as much as 65% in 2002.