Two things recently skyrocketed for Dr. Joseph Morelli: his blood pressure and his medical malpractice insurance bill.

The first incident was directly related to the latter for the local family practitioner.

Morelli's insurance premium next year is $11,532, compared to his current $2,015 premium.

"I expected it to go up, but not by 500 percent,'' Morelli said.

He's not alone.

Sticker shock has hit physicians throughout Pennsylvania as their malpractice insurance premium notices have hit mailboxes. A prognosis on rates going lower any time soon isn't good.

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