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(Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell) LOOPHOLE A state program designed to help rural physicians meet rising costs of malpractice insurance isn't living up to its goal in Jackson County By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune Dr. Andrew Watson has struggled for eight years to provide medical care to Applegate Valley residents in a house in Ruch that's been converted into a medical office. Dedicated to the community he lives in, Watson provides charity care to patients who can't afford to pay or don't have insurance. One longtime patient showed his gratitude by giving Watson a cow. When the doctor's car broke down on Jacksonville Hill one day, two of his patients who had not been able to pay for medical care happened by and helped him out. With malpractice premiums soaring, rural practices like Watson's have benefited from a state program that subsidizes rural doctors' malpractice insurance premiums, and helps them continue to practice in a highly competitive environment. "Rural medicine is at the highest risk of failure," when compared to other kinds of medical practices, said Watson, who personally maintains the building he rents to cut down on costs. Rural practices "are the bellwether, or the canary in the mine, for the health of health care." A review of the state program that subsidizes Watson reveals it hasn't lived up to its original goal in Jackson County. Advertisement Of the 70 Jackson County doctors who received subsidies totaling more than $1 million locally over 18 months, 66 are in Ashland, three are in Rogue River and one (Watson) is in Ruch, according to information provided by SAIF Corp., which manages the program. The $25 million program was approved under House Bill 3630 in 2003 to offset a portion of the escalating malpractice insurance costs faced by rural doctors. Doctors can qualify for state assistance if their practice is 10 miles or more from a metropolitan community with a population of more than 30,000. Since the population of Ashland is 20,000, and it is just over 10 miles from Medford, doctors who practice there qualify for the program. Rates of reimbursement vary among specialties. Obstetric physicians (those who deliver babies) get reimbursement for 80 percent of their premiums; family physicians receive 60 percent; and all other practices get 40 percent. For example, one plastic surgeon, Dr. Scott Young of Ashland, received $21,048 from the state subsidy. Sen. Alan Bates, D-Ashland, himself a physician, said he was surprised that so many Ashland doctors benefited from the program. Bates said he will work to change the legislation that gives Ashland doctors the ability to seek subsidies. The current law expires in 2007. Some Ashland physicians have received as much as $50,000 to $60,000 over 18 months. "From my point of view, Dr. Watson is representative of a rural physician," Bates said after learning about who gets the subsidy in Jackson County. "He's the kind of physician we're trying to support. Otherwise he might have to close his practice." Bates does not qualify for the subsidy because he practices in Medford. Rep. Peter Buckley, D-Ashland, who attended a House task force this week that discussed the program, said, "It's hard for us to make the case that Ashland is a rural town." Buckley said momentum is building in Salem to increase to 15 miles the distance between a physician's office and a community of 30,000 people. That would effectively disqualify Ashland doctors from the program. Despite the example of Ashland, Buckley and Bates said they think the program has mostly been a success. It has provided assistance to 1,400 doctors statewide. Buckley said one doctor had been paying $100,000 annually in Tennessee for malpractice premiums, but when she moved to Pendleton she paid $15,000 thanks to the state subsidy. Watson said his annual malpractice premium was $11,200, but he paid $4,400 after the state subsidy. Over 18 months he has received $9,696 from the program. He said he keeps his malpractice premiums relatively low by not performing high-risk procedures such as vasectomy. Watson said that if he lost the subsidy, he would probably have to stop providing charity care at his clinic. He said decreasing Medicare reimbursements and increasing costs of providing good medical care are also putting the squeeze on rural physicians. "There is a breaking point," he said. Dr. John Maurer, an Ashland orthopedist who received $23,612, said there is a bigger issue than just whether Ashland doctors should receive the subsidy. "It would have been more fair if every Medford orthopedist got the same thing," he said. Maurer said the Legislature needs to control runaway malpractice premiums that are hurting physicians throughout the state. Medford's recent shortage of neurosurgeons, due in part to high malpractice premiums, is a prime indicator that something is wrong, he said. Scott Ekblad, director of the Oregon Office of Rural Health, defended the subsidy for doctors in Ashland. "It is still difficult more difficult to retain physicians in Ashland than it is in Portland," he said. Ekblad said all doctors have seen their malpractice premiums rise in recent years. "It is really becoming increasingly expensive and unaffordable to practice medicine in rural Oregon," he said. Ekblad said that the program was set up to offer as much as $10 million annually to offset malpractice premiums, but has only been using about $5 million to $7 million annually. Bates said he thinks high malpractice premiums are hurting physicians all over Oregon. He said if Ashland physicians were excluded from the subsidy, some might have to stop delivering babies or cut back their practice. He said the program was designed to help rural doctors, not bail out doctors throughout the state. "We haven't got that kind of money," he said. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476 or [email protected] . Local reimbursements Taxpayer-funded insurance premium reimbursements paid to Jackson County doctors from Jan. 1, 2004, through Aug. 31, 2006 Ashland Karen Harris $52,998 Cynthia Olson $61,608 Matthew Gooding $6,530 John Delgado $19,669 Jani Rollins $39,589 Leslie Stone $40,603 Miriam Soriano $54,197 Kathryn Henderson $7,947 Steven Thomas $ 4,288 Meredith Lowry $4,281 Laura Robin $2,188 David Hagie $16,302 Michael Thomas $4,878 Carl Osborn $12,676 Bruce Johnson $7,467 Clifford Hites $980 Jean Keevil $10,926 David Jones $8,703 John Barton $6,414 John Maurer $23,612 Thomas Ewald $11,282 Diane Williams $10,852 Gordon Enns $8,271 Allen Johnson $9,724 Gerald Lehrburger $15,375 David Snook $8,756 Andrew Kuzmitz $7,596 Craig Mather $6,060 Dee Christlieb $10,852 Douglas Morrison $28,619 William Epstein $11,431 Richard Morris $9,725 Paul Amstutz $33,078 Deborah Gordon $1,862 Paul Rostykus $16,423 Ted Sundin $3,591 Craig Chow $9,724 Hal Townsend $28,620 Sylvia Chatroux $11,802 Paul Hoffman $38,960 John Sager $14,069 Yvonne Fried $8,632 Robert Ewing, Jr. $11,431 Scott Young $21,048 Mark Greenberg $15,117 Philip Phillips $3,118 Alan Campbell $15,375 Robin Rose $10,578 Wendy Schilling $9,724 Debra Koutnik $5,974 Howard Morningstar $10,852 Michael Potter $20,442 Thomas Margulies $6,462 Garry Harris $1,678 Rudy Greene $7,636 Patrick Honsinger $7,470 Glen O'Sullivan $41,058 Peter Stone $9,373 David Childress $703 Robert Bade $3,554 D. Bradshaw-Walters $9,642 James Steinsiek $10,161 Bert Stewart $32,154 Douglas Diehl $13,130 Clifton Hebert $15,183 Dirk Woods $6,670 Shahrzad Sheibani $196 Rogue River David Frank $10,800 Edmund Glovinsky $10,800 Doherty Gilchrist $1,854 Ruch Andrew Watson $9,696 Total 1,013,034 Source: SAIF Corp., State of Oregon Would you like to respond to this story? If so Click Here to visit our forums. Advertisement Copyright © 1997-2007 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback online casinos news Home Security Systems Online Casino Reviews Trunks, Footlocker Fundraisers UK Homeowner Loans Casinos Canada Cord Blood Banking Discount Hotel Reservations Texas Electric Choice Compare Electric rates in Texas Online Casino Windermere Van Vleet Men's Clothing Debt Help New Hampshire Primary