Malpractice insurer Doctors Co. gets bigger

Carrie Ghose

Reporter

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The No. 3 insurer in Ohio’s medical malpractice market could leapfrog to the top spot with an acquisition.

Doctors Co.    Doctors Co. Latest from The Business Journals FPIC merger awaits outcome of legal investigationsMedChi chief warns of malpractice rate hikesCalifornia insurer makes bid for FPIC Follow this company completed a deal valued at about $386 million on Friday with American Physicians Capital Inc.    American Physicians Capital Inc. Latest from The Business Journals Doctors Co. completes 2M purchase of FPIC InsuranceCalifornia insurer makes bid for FPICMalpractice insurer Doctors Company to buy FPIC Insurance for 2 million Follow this company

Shareholders in APCapital got $41.50 a share. Its offices in East Lansing, Mich., and New Mexico will stay open. The holding company’s largest nameplate, American Physicians Assurance Corp., writes policies in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and New Mexico.

Napa, Calif.-based Doctors was already the nation’s largest malpractice insurer, and grows to about 62,000 members with the addition of 7,000 from American Physicians.

Doctors acquired Columbus-based Ohic Insurance Co    Ohic Insurance Co Latest from The Business Journals Many credit reform for latest drop in malpractice costsOhio malpractice premiums dropDoctors Co. cutting state's malpractice insurance rates by 13% Follow this company . in 2007.

Doctors is the third-largest in the state by market share, at 17 percent (with 4 percentage points attributed to Ohic), according to the Ohio Department of Insurance (PDF here). APCapital’s holdings combine for another 4 percent, which would just edge it past the 20 percent share of Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway, almost all under its subsidiary Medical Protective Co.

No. 2 is Birmingham, Ala.-based ProAssurance Corp. (NYSE: PRA).

One of the concerns raised when lawmakers passed caps on malpractice jury awards a few years back was concern that the liability climate in the state would drive out insurers and reduce competition that keeps premiums low. While the Insurance Department’s market share list shows 70 companies, the market remains heavily consolidated with those top three. No other insurer tops 4 percent.

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