Over the past seven years, reserve releases from previous years’ policy writings have been a mainstay of the medical professional liability (MPL) market, contributing to insurer’s profits in the early years and, more recently, buoying results. But they’ve also been the engine of competition, undercutting price levels at a time when insurers have seen their client base shrink. The apparent convergence of these two forces—a runoff of reserves and consolidation within the healthcare industry—raises the question: Could their intersection cause the market to harden, quite suddenly?

This article was originally published in Inside Medical Liability , Third Quarter 2013.