BRUNO: SENATE RESOLUTION INCLUDES $30 MILLION FOR EXCESS MEDICAL MALPRACTICE PROGRAM

Tuesday, March 20, 2001

During his speech to the Medical Society today, Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno (R-C, Brunswick) announced that the 2001-02 Senate Budget Resolution will include $30 million for the Excess Medical Malpractice Program.

"With medical malpractice cases in New York State on the rise, it is essential that we avoid a medical malpractice crisis that seriously threatens our health care delivery system," said Senator Bruno. "Without further action to ensure this program continues, New York State may stand a chance of losing quality health care providers."

The Excess Medical Malpractice Insurance Program was created in 1986 to provide a secondary layer of malpractice coverage for physicians. Since 1997-98, the Legislature authorized financing for the Excess Program from surplus moneys accrued in the Medical Malpractice Insurance Association (MMIA) from premiums in previous years of the program. This year the Executive Budget did not provide funding to support the continuation of the Excess Program, which will otherwise expire on June 30, 2001.

"The extension of the Excess Medical Malpractice Insurance Program is necessary to continue the quality of care provided by physicians in New York State," said Senator Kemp Hannon (R, Garden City), Chairman of the Senate Health Committee. "The additional coverage provided through this program will keep the cost of insurance premiums paid by physicians under control. Without it many physicians would be driven out of business and even out of our state."

In 1999, the average medical malpractice settlement in New York State was $5.58 million, up from $1.7 million in 1994, and almost half of actual awards in 2000 exceed $1 million.

"The Excess Medical Malpractice Program is extremely valuable in stabilizing the costs associated with health insurance in New York State," said Senator James L. Seward (R-C, Oneonta), Chairman of the Senate Insurance Committee. "It's imperative that we maintain New York's quality of health care and keep the cost of medical malpractice insurance coverage affordable by continuing this program."

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