NYS Medical Society Applauds Assemblyman Schimminger for Advancing Medical Liability Reform Legislation

ALBANY, NY (02/27/2009)(readMedia)-- Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY) President Michael Rosenberg, MD, today applauded Erie County Assemblyman Robin Schimminger for again introducing legislation (A.6184) to protect patient access to care across New York State by providing comprehensive reform of the medical liability adjudication system. The legislation advanced by Assemblyman Schimminger would enact a number of common sense reforms that would produce long-overdue reductions in the exorbitant cost of medical liability insurance - a cost that increasingly threatens the ability of New York's physicians and hospitals to continue to provide needed care in the communities they serve.

"Patient access to care is being threatened by rapidly increasing medical liability insurance costs, which is a problem seriously exacerbated by the ongoing efforts of health insurance companies to limit treatments and payments through a variety of unfair practices," stated Dr. Rosenberg. "This legislation would begin to reverse this ever-tightening vise."

New York physicians have for many years paid liability premiums at levels which are among the highest in the country. Until the Legislature last year enacted a one-year freeze on medical liability insurance premiums, premiums had gone up 55-80% in the previous 5 years. Even with the freeze, for just a single year of coverage:

• a Long Island neurosurgeon pays over $300,000;
• an obstetrician in Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx pays over $170,000; and
• an orthopedic surgeon in Westchester County or Manhattan pays almost $110,000.From 2003-2008, liability insurance costs for ER physicians rose 72-80%; general surgeons 72-80%; neurosurgeons 72-80%; internists 72-80%; radiologists 63-72%; and OB-GYNs 63-72%. As expensive as this coverage is, however, it does not even fully cover the cost of awards that increasingly exceed the insurance coverage that physicians can afford to purchase.

The exorbitant premiums are the result of the fact that liability payouts in New York continue to be far out of proportion to the rest of country. For example, according to Kaiser State Health Facts, in 2007, New York State had by far and away the highest number of paid medical liability claims in the country (1,528), almost 70% more than California (924) and twice that of Florida (783) and Pennsylvania (767). The Kaiser statistics also showed that New York State had the highest cumulative medical liability payouts in 2007 ($674,683,750), more than two times greater than the states with the next highest amounts - Pennsylvania ($282,611,000), Florida ($226,487,600), Illinois ($215,890,000) and California ($214,115,050). At a time when our entire health system is seriously threatened by an unprecedented global financial crisis, New York can no longer allow the excesses of a failed medical liability adjudication system to go uncheck.

"The bill advanced by Assemblyman Schimminger would provide some critically needed relief for many physician practices across New York State, and allow them to continue to see their patients. We urge that this legislation be acted on by the full Legislature and enacted into law."

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