MDNews - Central New York

THE HUNDREDS OF pages in the state budget bills passed by the state Senate and the Assembly on March 31 and April 1 provided a lot of good news for physicians in New York state. Many onerous proposals were not included, and many positive bills were approved. Once again, these accomplishments were only achieved by the hard work of county medical societies, the Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY), state specialty societies, and their physician- and medical student-members and sta. Members got further confirmation that their dues are well worth the investment. Special credit goes to the outstanding leadership of the MSSNY and its superb governmental relations team in Albany. Too many non-member physicians merely sit on the sidelines, contributing nothing to these eorts while reaping all of the benefits. Just think how much more success could be achieved with their support and dollars. The governor's proposed budget released in January called for significant and severe changes in the medical liability excess cov- erage program. Those changes put to rest for another year the threat that would have denied this vital coverage to an estimated 13,000 physicians in the state because of a planned $25 million cut in funding. The approved budget restored the $25 million, keeping intact all $127.4 million in the 2015–2016 budget. Before t he state Leg islat ure ta kes its summer recess in June, there will be the usua l heavily f ina nced attempts by tria l law yers inside a nd outside of the Senate a nd the A ssembly to secure passage of reg ressive medica l liabilit y legislation. These regressive measures seek to cha nge date of discover y, the s t a t u t e o f l i m i t a t i o n s o n m e d i c a l l iabi l it y ca ses a nd reduce l i m it s on contingency fees for at tor neys. This comes at a time when New York state physicia ns continue to pay the highest medica l liability premiums in the coun- tr y. A neurosurgeon in the New York Cit y a rea ca n pay as much as $338,000 for liability premiums while an OB-GYN in the sa me a rea could pay more tha n $186,000, according to the MSSN Y. A l lies in t his a n nua l f ig ht include t h e G r e a t e r N e w Yo r k H o s p i t a l Association, the State Hea lth Facilities A ssociation a nd the Medica l Mutua l Liabi lit y Insura nce Compa ny, a l l of whom a re highly respected in A lba ny a nd elsewhere. The proposal to expand establishment of "limited ser vice" clinics in large drug store cha ins was not in the budget bills passed by both houses, but the matter could reappear later in the session. A lso not in the budget were modif ications to worker 's compensation that would have a l lowed acupunct ur ist s, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and social workers to treat worker's compensa- tion patients and to bill directly for these services. The bills also did not reduce the role of county medical societies to screen, approve or reject the applications of physi- cians to be part of workers compensation. Another big budget victory was the establishment of the Health Republic Insurance of New York Fund. The director of the budget was given the authority to approve payment to physicians for services rendered to the former Health Republic. Not to be overlooked was the fa ilure of the state Leg islature to approve the elimination of Prescriber Preva ils for prescr ibing dr ugs to fee-for-ser v ice Medica id patients or patients covered by Medicaid-managed care. Physicians who write fewer tha n 25 prescriptions per yea r a re now exempted from t he prescribing ma ndate. T h e D o c t o r s A c r o s s N e w Yo r k P r o g r a m r e c e i v e d a n a d d i t i o n a l $1 million a llocated for 25 new Doctors Across New York positions that will pay $40,000 per yea r. Gerald N. "Jerry" Hoffman was chief executive ocer of the Onondaga County Medical Society from 1981 until his retire- ment on Jan. 31, 2014. He has co-authored two books, Medical Malpractice Insurance, A Legislator's View and The History of Local Medical Care, 1806–2006. ■ in the State Budget BY GERALD N. "JERRY" HOFFMAN Good News for MDs M D N E W S . C O M /// M D N E W S C EN T R A L N E W YO R K ■ 2 016 0 5 H E A LT H C A R E P E R S P E C T I V E ❰❰❰❰❰ 0 5

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