• 07
  • February
    2012

The members of the Suburban Hospital Alliance of New York State recently spent a couple of days lobbying state legislators in Albany on a number of issues, including their ongoing effort to get caps on medical malpractice damages.

As they did last year, hospital industry lobbyists are pushing for medical malpractice liability reform that they claim would result in lower insurance premiums for hospitals and doctors. But as we've noted in this space before, the real cost of these caps is borne by the people who can prove that they're the victims of medical malpractice.

According to a media source, advocates of caps on awards said at their recent gathering in Albany that "they did put a toe in the water last year" when the state created a medical indemnity fund covering medical costs for some children with birth-related neurological injuries.

That indemnity fund is expected to reduce annual medical malpractice insurance costs statewide.

But the hospital industry says it wants more. It still seeks a reform that would place a hard cap of $250,000 on any awards for pain and suffering. It was a model backed last year by Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Medicaid reform team, but didn't get the backing it needed from the state legislature.

While the cap is certainly presented by its advocates in sweeping, appealing terms, the reality is much different.

Think of a 21-year-old woman who is harmed in surgery by a negligent doctor and hospital. Think of the pain and suffering a severe brain injury can leave the victim with, and then think of how many years that young woman must live with that irreversible damage. If she lives 50 years, that $250,000 cap would result in an award of $5,000 per year for her pain and suffering.

Most New Yorkers would likely agree that that's hardly fair and just compensation -- or fair and reasonable reform.

Source: Westfair Online: "Hospitals push reform and repeal," John Golden, Feb. 3, 2012