Mike Enzi: “Throughout the West, and all over the country, more and more physicians are closing up shop and moving their practices…”

“Throughout the West, and all over the country, more and more physicians are closing up shop and moving their practices out of State because they can no longer afford their medical liability insurance premiums in States that don't have some kind of a control over the amount that can be awarded. Whenever I go home for a town meeting or when I visit with constituents, I hear story after story about people who are facing the loss of the sole option for health care in their towns because of the skyrocketing premiums their doctors must pay. One constituent told me about her family physician in Newcastle, WY. She had to close her doors because the cost of insurance premiums made it impossible for her to provide obstetrical services to the pregnant women of the town. She said: Telling a pregnant woman I won't be there to deliver her baby was one of the hardest things I had to do as a family physician. She then joined two other doctors in Newcastle to announce as of July 1 they would be unable to deliver babies because of a more than 50-percent increase in their liability insurance premiums.”