- Left Out: The failure of a hospital chain that provided its own malpractice insurance threatens to leave injured patients with no recourse.
- Absent Oversight: States give little scrutiny to “self-insuring” health care companies. Agency officials say laws allow them to dodge normal safeguards.
- Physician, Pay for Thyself: Doctors promised malpractice insurance have discovered they have no coverage for defense expenses and claims. One met with a bankruptcy lawyer.



Expect a lot more things like this to come out in all industries as the economy worsens. A thriving economy can hide a lot of financially problematic issues, in the same way a high tide can hide the rocks. As the economic tide recedes, all the ugly things below are revealed. This specific example involves the collapse of Prospect Medical, a for-profit hospital chain plundered by private equity. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
What’s wrong with rocks? This sounds very rockphobic.
Self insurance is also ridiculously common, so get ready to find a lot of defunct insurance when places start going bankrupt that were once seen as large entities.