Syracuse.com: Liability law will be disaster for NY healthcare

By: Dr. Jacob Moalem & Dr. Anthony Vine

The New York state Legislature has once again passed legislation that dramatically expands liability and will have disastrous implications for New York’s healthcare system. They passed the bill while ignoring the significant opposition from a chorus of advocates, including the Medical Society of the State of New York and the New York Chapter of the American College of Surgeons. Recognizing the threat the bill posed to patient access to healthcare, Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed nearly identical legislation earlier this year. But the legislature disregarded the Hochul administration’s concerns as well the medical community’s and will soon be sending another fundamentally flawed bill to her desk. She should promptly use her pen to veto that proposal, too.

Ahead of vetoing the earlier version of the bill, Hochul wrote in an op-ed published in the New York Daily News that “it is reasonable to think that the legislation as drafted will drive up already-high health insurance premiums, adding significant costs for many sectors of our economy, particularly hospitals that are still recovering from the pandemic and struggling to stay afloat — including public hospitals that serve disadvantaged communities. This is a question that would benefit from careful analysis before, not after, passing sweeping legislation.”

Since introducing a new bill, countless organizations representing every sector of the Empire State’s economy — from doctors and hospitals to manufacturing and even local governments — have called on lawmakers to be transparent and provide an analysis of the financial impact the bill will have on both public and private entities. Inexplicably, the bill’s sponsor memo in each house states that the fiscal impact will be “none.” How can that be? The bill’s express intent is to expand the types of financial damages recoverable in a wrongful death lawsuit and who can recover them.

The New York State Division of the Budget called on Hochul to veto the earlier version of the bill. Indeed, the state’s own fiscal watchdog determined that the increase in medical liability expenses for state-run health care facilities and safety net health providers would amount to $214 million annually. Estimates of how individual physicians would be affected suggest an increase in medical professional liability insurance premiums on the order of 40%. Notably, New York already has the highest medical professional liability costs in the country, a fact that continues to drive physician practices and ancillary care providers out of the state.

In objecting to the latest version of the bill, the medical community has emphasized that while the bill is clearly well-intended, the unsustainable increase in costs will make it too expensive for many physicians and smaller healthcare facilities to continue operating. This will ultimately make it harder for New Yorkers to access the care they need, especially if they need a surgical procedure or to see a specialist. The bill’s sweeping provisions, which are more expansive than any other state in the country, would raise insurance premiums across all liability policies, including for small businesses and personal auto insurance — not just those for medical professionals. And the bill would significantly raise costs for taxpayer funded public services, stage agencies and local governments.

Now, as the bill awaits action from the governor, the medical community once again stands united in its strong opposition to this potentially devastating proposal. We urge the Hochul administration to veto this bill and stand firmly with the physician community in our commitment to preserve access to care. As they approach issues that impact frontline medical professionals, we encourage the bill sponsors to work collaboratively with our physician community to formulate a bill that properly compensates the families of the deceased, while reducing unintended consequences and protecting the healthcare system.

Dr. Jacob Moalem, FACS, is a governor and president of the NY Chapter of the American College of Surgeons. He is a professor of endocrine surgical oncology and endocrinology, and director of quality and safety in the Department of Surgery at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Dr. Anthony Vine, FACS, is vice president of the chapter. He is an associate professor of surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.