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CNNMoney
By Peter Carbonara
May 1, 2003

Most M.D.s in New Jersey have seen their malpractice rates go up. A few have had their rates go up a lot--notably specialists in areas like obstetrics and neurology. This is a problem for the rest of us, because soaring insurance premiums, on top of rising costs for rent, labor, equipment and everything else, have made it uneconomic for some doctors to practice certain kinds of medicine. Some obstetricians, for instance, particularly those who specialize in high-risk pregnancies, have given up delivering babies. In Pennsylvania, several hospitals have recently closed their trauma clinics or maternity wards because the doctors who practice there couldn't afford insurance.

New Jersey, though, is not the worst place in America to be an obstetrician as far as malpractice insurance is concerned. According to Medical Liability Monitor, a Chicago publication that tracks malpractice rates, an obstetrician in Miami may pay $210,000 a year, the highest rate in the country. In Alabama, an obstetrician can get the same coverage for $36,000. New Jersey is somewhere in the middle, with base rates for obstetricians of about $70,000.

Dr. Hux says he gets about $1,800 for each delivery. "Most of the time, you're just about breaking even," he says. When one patient had triplets following a risky pregnancy, Hux says, "I think I walked out of there with about 50 bucks."