Medical Society of the State of NY President Leah McCormack, MD, Comments on Status of Budget Negotiations

ALBANY, NY (03/25/2011)(readMedia)-- "The future of New York's health care delivery system hangs in the balance now. The final Budget enacted by the State Legislature must contain Governor Cuomo's proposed medical liability reforms-the $250,000 cap on non-economic damages and the indemnity fund for neurologically impaired infants. New York physicians are at a breaking point, already paying medical liability premiums that far exceed those of any other state in the nation.

Thirty other states, including California and Texas, have successfully addressed this problem by limiting non-economic damages. And it has worked! An OB-GYN practicing in Los Angeles, California pays 1/3 the cost of liability premiums that an OB-GYN on Long Island pays; 90% of physicians in Texas have seen a minimum 30% reduction in their premiums since the enactment of a cap in 2003. Not surprisingly, Texas has seen a significant increase in physicians; over 1,200 physicians trained in New York State have located in Texas since reform of its tort law, according to the Texas Alliance for Patient Access.

Physicians in New York State cannot continue to provide the care that patients require unless the Legislature and the Governor take steps to bring these extraordinary liability costs under control. Failure to enact these reforms will have devastating consequences as access to needed care decreases all across New York State."