PEARL RIVER, NY--(MARKET WIRE)--Jul 23, 2008 -- J.M. Woodworth Risk Retention Group, Inc. (RRG), a provider of medical malpractice insurance to physicians and surgeons in New York, is extending its operations to Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, Sanford Elsass, President of The Uni-Ter Group, Woodworth's underwriting manager, announced.

"We are responding to the need in these states for additional competitive markets to provide doctors with stable, affordable medical malpractice insurance," Elsass said. He pointed out that, "A number of physicians insured by Woodworth are members of groups that practice in these nearby states."

J. M. Woodworth has registered with the Insurance Departments of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. The Company is domiciled in Nevada. Under the federal Risk Retention Act as amended in 1986, RRGs domiciled in a single state can do business in any other state without being subject to the regulatory authority of that state.

Woodworth opened for business in 2006 with operations exclusively in New York. The Company has grown rapidly as an alternative market for doctors who were faced with prohibitive med mal premiums. New York has long been known as a "crisis state" burdened with malpractice litigation and the failure to enact tort reform.

Jan Ferguson, Uni-Ter Senior Vice President, said Woodworth is able to offer affordable med mal coverage through selective underwriting and professional risk management. "The RRG is owned by participating physicians and surgeons who have an incentive as shareholders to help the company succeed. As a result, Woodworth has maintained a low loss ratio," she noted.

Woodworth is rated "A Exceptional" by Demotech, Inc., a leading financial analysis, actuarial, and rating firm. "We offer an attractive alternative to the traditional carriers for doctors with good records in markets where medical malpractice premiums are placing an extraordinary burden on the medical profession," Ferguson explained. She pointed out that Woodworth meets the criteria proposed by major hospital systems for accepting physicians and surgeons insured by RRGs.

Ferguson recently joined Uni-Ter after serving as Director of Risk Management for American Physicians Insurance Company, Austin, TX, and earlier was a manager of the self-insurance plan for 6,000 physicians in the University of Texas System. She will be meeting with hospitals, physicians' groups, agents, and doctors to introduce J. M. Woodworth to the medical community in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Jersey.

The Uni-Ter Group builds and manages Risk Retention Groups in the healthcare industry. It provides Woodworth with administrative, underwriting, claims, risk management, marketing, regulatory, and reinsurance services. Uni-Ter also oversees auditing, actuarial, investment, and legal services on behalf of the RRG board. Uni-Ter is a subsidiary of U.S. RE Companies, Inc., an international financial services firm.

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