Repeat after me. Medical malpractice insurance rates are falling. Medical malpractice insurance rates are falling. Medical malpractice insurance rates are falling.

After years of watching medical malpractice rates soar in Florida, and the state hemorrhage of doctors due to high insurance costs, all eyes are on the market where rates have fallen for the third consecutive year in 2007. However, a funny thing happened on the way to a stable market. Despite the legislature's move to enact major reforms and a number of constitutional amendments approved by voters, doctors are still not buying into the fact the market has improved. Indeed, a wide divide remains between the downward trends in rates and doctors' perceptions of the market.

Prior to the 2003 reforms, thousands of doctors decided to go bare and drop their coverage altogether despite the risk of facing a medical malpractice lawsuit. But even as the reforms have caused many new insurers to enter the market, which has become highly competitive and offers lower rates, doctors still list medical malpractice costs as the number one issue they face in the state. It is also the main reason doctors refuse to treat emergency room patients and those covered under Medicaid.