(1) A joint underwriting association (association) is created, containing as members all insurers authorized to write and report net-direct written premiums for medical malpractice insurance, medical professional liability insurance, hospital professional liability insurance, or any other type of professional liability insurance in this State covering the professional liability risks of licensed health care providers. Membership also includes foreign and domestic risk retention groups and captive insurers authorized to write and report net-direct premiums for medical malpractice insurance, medical professional liability insurance, hospital professional liability insurance, or any other type of professional liability insurance in this State covering the professional liability risk of licensed health care providers, and authorized to do business in accordance with the provisions of this title. The South Carolina Insurance Reserve Fund is not a member of the association. Each insurer described above is and must remain a member of the association as a condition of the authorization to transact the sale of insurance in this State. The membership of the association shall continue as members in the South Carolina Medical Malpractice Association upon its creation as provided in § 38-79-300.

(2) The purpose of the association is to ensure the availability of medical malpractice and other types of professional liability insurance for health care providers on a self-supporting basis to the fullest extent possible. The intent of the General Assembly in enacting this section is to eliminate the accumulated deficit of the association and of the fund and to transition the association over time to a market of last resort so that it is no longer in competition with the private market. Specifically, the General Assembly does not intend that the South Carolina Joint Underwriting Association offer rates that are competitive to the private market.

Terms Used In South Carolina Code 38-79-120

  • Accumulated deficit: means the amount that the association's and the fund's liabilities exceed their assets, as reported in the association's and fund's respective most recently reported financial statements on June 30, 2019. See South Carolina Code 38-79-110
  • Association: means any joint underwriting association established by the General Assembly in 1987 and managed and operated pursuant to the provisions of this article. See South Carolina Code 38-79-110
  • Fund: means the Patients' Compensation Fund. See South Carolina Code 38-79-110
  • insurance: includes annuities. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
  • Insurer: includes a corporation, fraternal organization, burial association, other association, partnership, society, order, individual, or aggregation of individuals engaging or proposing or attempting to engage as principals in any kind of insurance or surety business, including the exchanging of reciprocal or interinsurance contracts between individuals, partnerships, and corporations. See South Carolina Code 38-1-20
  • Licensed health care providers: means physicians and surgeons, nurses, oral surgeons, dentists, pharmacists, podiatrists, hospitals, nursing homes, or any similar major category of licensed health care providers. See South Carolina Code 38-79-110
  • Medical malpractice insurance: means medical professional liability insurance or insurance protection against the legal liability of the insured and against loss, damage, or expense incident to a claim arising out of the death or injury of any person as the result of negligence or malpractice in rendering or failing to render professional service by any licensed physician, licensed health care provider, or hospital. See South Carolina Code 38-79-110
  • Net-direct premiums: means gross-direct premiums written on medical malpractice insurance, medical professional liability insurance, hospital professional liability insurance, and any other type of professional liability insurance covering risks of licensed health care providers and facilities as determined and computed by the director or his designee, less return premiums or the unused or unabsorbed portions of premium deposits. See South Carolina Code 38-79-110
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