The current trend towards higher health insurance liability costs can be attributed to a number of factors. Medical professionals are often forced to be part of the inflated liability market because of the procedures they either do or do not perform. The public is pretty much aware that reform is atop the "to do" list for the medical community's efforts to keep costs manageable. There is also the practice of providing defensive medicines–probably not as costly as malpractice suits, but certainly part of the increased costs dilemma.

Defensive medicine can be defined as practicing non-routine procedures that are mainly forced on doctors in an effort to avoid liability threats. Defensive medical measures are categorized as either assurance or avoidance behaviors. Assurance behavior is positive defensive medical procedures. Most doctors practice this medical practice method that provides for additional procedures to examine a patient. Those procedures are generally of little medical value, but hold up fairly well in court if a malpractice suit is filed.

Avoidance methods are simply physicians' efforts to avoid malpractice suits. This is done by limiting their practices, not taking a chance on high-risk procedures, and staying clear of patients who might file suit. All in all, studies have found that some 93 percent of doctors surveyed practice defensive medicine. Some of them also complain that exorbitant health insurance liability costs are a necessary evil, and they couldn't practice medicine without adequate coverage–their personal finances could not stand the blow.

The health reform bill pushed through by the Obama administration doesn't treat medical liability as a problem waiting to become a national catastrophe. President Obama won't push for caps on malpractice awards–a political position that threatens health care reform because of the billions of dollars in extra costs that are likely to be the result of law suits against doctors and other medical practitioners.

Medical liability insurance is a must purchase for everybody engaged in the health care industry. Lawsuits can hit just about anybody connected with medical services. The lawsuits are often fruitless, but in today's litigious society it's best to be prepared. Ironically, the more the medical industry strives to cut back costs by performing fewer diagnostic procedures, the more likely it is that a suit will be filed claiming lack of care or negligence.

Professional liability insurance has two benefits for a policyholder. It specifies how much the insurer will pay in the event of a medical liability claim, and pays attorneys needed in the event of a lawsuit. About $125 billion is spent annually by the medical profession to avoid medical liability, a number that may grow higher with time.