Several items were included in the med mal commission interim report that the commission believes will help address problems with the Ohio medical malpractice insurance market. One suggestion was to ask lawmakers to immediately approve legislation that allows for the creation of a medical liability underwriting association. The Ohio Medical Malpractice Commission said enacting HB 282 could help stabilize increasing rates which have caused some physicians to drop high-cost specialties and which some commissioners said have forced doctors to leave practice in Ohio. The commission's interim report also said lawmakers could help with the situation by enacting legislation that requires the reporting of medical malpractice lawsuit data. That legislation, which could be based on a Florida statute, would help the department and the legislature monitor the market, the commission said. The interim report also suggests that the legislature and interested parties should continue work on legislation that would create a medical review screening process and should consider creating a patient compensation fund that could help cut insurance premiums. In a separate statement, Ohio Department of Insurance Director Ann Womer Benjamin said she opposes new legislation (SB 204) that would impose a one-year freeze on med mal insurance rates. She believes that enactment of the measure offered by Senator Kirk Schuring (R-Canton) could undermine the stability of the insurance market in Ohio. The director indicated she felt that the moratorium proposal was "a bad idea." She stated that the five major insurers serving Ohio physicians don't have to provide service in Ohio and said such a plan may drive them out of the state.