In article , "Ron Natalie"
writes:

"Wdtabor" wrote in message
...

I am a dentist, licensed by the state. But if the state stayed out of it, I
would still need professional liability insurance. It would be in the
insurance
company's best interest to only insure competent dentists, so they would
check
my credentials and my record before insuring me. YOu need only check to see
if
i have insurance to know if I am qualified, so what purpose does the
license
really serve?

Because, the interests of the insurance company is not necessarily the
interest
of your patient. The insurance company only cares about the probability and
the magnitude of any loss they'd have to pay out. This is not necessarily
mean
competent dental care for your prospective patients. The fact that you are
paying
insurance doesn't tell me if you're any good (mind you neither does the fact
that
you got the certificate on your wall from the Commonwealth).


Exactly.

There are some truly lousy dentists around with valid licenses. You have to do
a lot more to loose your license than to become uninsurable.

What's more, the marketplace does a lot of things short of stopping you from
practicing to encourage good care.

A dentist who gets sued a lot pays very high malpractice insurance, while
someone like me, who has a 30 years without the insurance company having paid
out a dime, gets a substantial discount.

To loose your license, you have to be consistently grossly negligent, commit a
felony, or forget to pay your renewal.

So, what goood does the license do that the private sector has not already done
better?

--
Wm. Donald (Don) Tabor Jr., DDS
PP-ASEL
Chesapeake, VA - CPK, PVG