GE Medical Protective Maintains `Excellent' A.M. Best Rating; Medical Liability Carrier Champions Lasting, Effective Reforms in Texas.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- GE Medical Protective (MedPro), the oldest primary medical professional liability insurer in the United States, today announced that A.M. Best revised the carrier's rating to "A-" (Excellent), continuing to place the medical liability carrier in an elite class of insurers.

MedPro remains one of only two "Excellent" carriers with a "Stable" outlook and significant size (class IX or above) within the medical malpractice industry.

"A.M. Best's announcement is a validation of the way we continue to run this business with excellence," said Tim Kenesey, President and CEO of GE Medical Protective. "Our doctors and distributors are aware of our dual win-win objective: (i) maintaining our rock-solid balance sheet, conservative investment portfolio and excellent ratings to ensure we continue to provide the leading financial strength and stability our customers desire and (ii) maintaining the right amount of -- but not excess -- capital to achieve industry-leading returns."

Kenesey continued: "We're particularly pleased with this designation from A.M. Best in light of challenges facing the medmal industry. MedPro distinguishes itself from the rest of the market because of its support from GE Insurance's $29 billion investment portfolio and $7 billion in statutory surplus."

Since 1916, MedPro has offered select Texas physicians and surgeons medical professional liability coverage, paid more than $765MM in claims, and issued more than 200,000 policies to Texas physicians and surgeons, and more than 1,000,000 policies countrywide since 1972. MedPro closes an average of 700 cases in Texas each year and since 1976 closed more than 16,000 Texas cases, with a Texas trial/win success ratio of nearly 95% (national 95%).

"MedPro remains strongly committed to the State of Texas and its health care providers," said Kenesey. "There is no question that unprecedented medical malpractice challenges have made the last few years difficult for insurers and health care providers in Texas and throughout many parts of the country and that significant challenges remain ahead."

"The effectiveness of tort reform measures recently enacted in Texas and in some other states will be determined -- over time and according to the unique specifics in each jurisdiction -- by the extent to which these measures truly stem the tide of lawsuits without merit and the 'lottery mentality' prevalent in many claims of medical malpractice. In the meantime, tort reform measures are (and, as they are improved, will be) an important first step," Kenesey added.

MedPro supports local reform measures as a founding member of state organizations like Texas Alliance for Patient Access (TAPA) and national measures as a founding member of the Health Care Liability Alliance (HCLA).

About Medical Protective

With more than $800 million in annual premium and $2 billion in statutory assets, GE Medical Protective (MedPro) is a national leader in primary medical professional liability coverage and risk solutions to physicians, dentists and professional corporations. As the nation's first provider of medical professional liability insurance, MedPro has been protecting the assets and reputations of physicians, dentists and other primary providers of health care for over 100 years. Its offerings include claims made and occurrence coverage, risk management consulting and education, premium finance solutions, and insurance support services. Through its affiliates and partners, MedPro can also offer additional financial products and services for its physicians and dentists. Medical professional liability insurance products are underwritten by The Medical Protective Company, rated A- (Excellent) by A.M. Best and A (Strong) by Standard & Poor's, and are distributed through a nationwide network of employee market managers and appointed distribution partners.