A.M. Best has assigned a financial strength rating of “A- (Excellent)” and an issuer credit rating of “a-” to Mountain States Healthcare Reciprocal Risk Retention Group.
Mountain States’ primary focus is to provide hospital and medical professional liability insurance to hospitals and employed physicians in the Rocky Mountain region and adjacent states.
The ratings reflect Mountain States’ supportive risk-adjusted capitalisation, history of favourable operating results, prudent reserving practices, adherence to strict underwriting standards and defined market focus.
In a recent release A.M. Best said: “These positive rating factors are partially offset by the inherent challenges associated with the hospital and medical professional liability insurance sector as they relate to regulation, increased competition, legislative reform and loss cost trends.”
“These risks may increase as additional attention is given to the delivery of quality healthcare to an increasing insured population and Mountain State’s member hospitals need to cope with rising financial and performance pressures.”
A.M. Best expects the ratings for Mountain States to remain stable in the medium term. Potential issues that may impact the ratings of Mountain States adversely could include a disruption in market dynamics, adverse effects from changes in healthcare delivery or shifting claims severity and frequency patterns.
