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- Committee discharged and committed to judiciary
- Referred to codes
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Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S2279
Title of bill
An act to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to limiting the amount of awards in medical malpractice lawsuits; and to amend the insurance law, in relation to establishing the excess medical malpractice liability fund
Purpose
This bill relates to limiting the amount of awards in medical malpractice lawsuits and to create the excess medical malpractice liability fund.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 amends the civil practice law and rules by adding a new article 50-C, entitled "Limitation on Damage Awards in Medical Malpractice Lawsuits." Section 5051 of this article defines noneconomic damages, actual economic damages, personal injury action, and compensation award.
Within this article, Section 5052 limits damage awards. Any personal injury compensation award shall not exceed the total amount of the medical malpractice policy held by the defendant or the sum total of the medical malpractice policies held by the defendants in cases of joint liability.
Section 2 amends the insurance law by adding a new section 5518. The excess medical malpractice liability fund is created to provide for the payment of claims of liability related to loss, damage, or expense incident resulting from the death or injury of any person due to medical malpractice.
In accordance with regulations prescribed by the superintendent of insurance, each insurer of medical malpractice shall report excess profit. The superintendent shall direct that excess profit be deposited into the excess medical malpractice liability fund and he shall maintain jurisdiction over this fund.
Section 3 enacts this bill on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall become law.
Justification
This bill caps damage awards to the actual amount of the medical malpractice policy held by a physician. The American Medical Association has identified New York as one of 20 states in a full-blown medical liability crisis. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, New York is a "red alert state" where 67% of ob-gyns have been forced to restrict their practices, retire or relocate to another state. In some cases, this means that these physicians will no longer deliver babies nor perform major gynecological surgeries.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall become law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.