CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) -- Medical malpractice insurance rates are going up for doctors covered by Utah Medical Insurance Association, one of the state's two major malpractice insurers.

The Wyoming Department of Insurance approved the 13.3-percent increase Wednesday.

Earlier this year, an 11.9-percent increase was approved for the state's other medical malpractice insurer, The Doctor's Company. Increases of 9 percent and 18.6 percent were approved for the other two companies, respectively, in 2003, the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle reports.

A third insurer left the state this year, replaced by a company called the Medical Protective Company, which still holds only a tiny share of the market.

The hike is bad news for Wyoming physicians, said Susie Pouliot, associate executive director of the Wyoming Medical Society. "I don't think that price increases are really an option," she said, pointing out that Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurers limit the fees they pay to physicians.

"For physicians, it's another blow in an already unstable insurance environment."

The Legislature held a special session last summer to consider ways to control the rising cost of physicians' and hospitals' medical malpractice insurance. Legislators put before voters a constitutional amendment to allow the Legislature to cap jury awards for medical malpractice, but the measure failed.

Voters did approve, however, allowing the Legislature to set up a panel to review medical malpractice cases before they go to court.

To evaluate the latest rate increase application, the Department of Insurance hired a consulting actuary who evaluated whether the increase was reasonable, according to Ken Vines, the Wyoming insurance commissioner.

The actuary approved the request, but Vines also compared the rate with other nearby insurers before giving approval. "The only basis we have to deny a rate request is if it's excessive, inadequate or unfairly discriminatory," he said.

Information from: Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, http://www.wyomingnews.com