You asked whether the Insurance Committee reported out medical malpractice legislation this year.

SUMMARY

The Insurance Committee reported out three medical malpractice bills this year: sSB 131, An Act Concerning Medical Malpractice Insurance Reform; sSB 1296, An Act Concerning Professional Liability Premium Relief for Research Obstetricains and Gynecologists Who Provide Medicaid Care In Academic Institutions; and SB 1299, An Act Concerning the Extention of Medical Malpractice Insurance Coverage Upon Retirement. All three bills are currently on the Senate calander.

Substitute Senate Bill 131 makes numerous changes to the laws dealing with civil litigation; insurance regulation and oversight; and the regulation, oversight, and disciplining of doctors. Substitute Senate Bill 1296 creates a fund to provide professional liability insurance premium assistance for certain obstetricians and gynecologists. Senate Bill 1299 requires insurers that stop offering medical malpractice insurance policies in Connecticut to honor policy provisions that require the insurer to cover alleged acts of medical malpractice that occurred before the insured retired.

AN ACT CONCERNING MEDICAL MALPRACTICE INSURANCE REFORM

sSB 131 makes numerous changes to the laws dealing with civil litigation; insurance regulation and oversight; and the regulation, oversight, and disciplining of doctors. Specifically, it:

1. establishes a mandatory mediation program for medical malpractice lawsuits filed after the bill becomes law, which the parties must use unless they agree to use an alternative dispute resolution program (§ 1);

2. requires, as a condition of filing a medical malpractice lawsuit or an apportionment complaint in such a lawsuit, that the plaintiff attach to his complaint a signed opinion of a similar health care provider showing there is a good faith belief that negligence has occurred (§ 2);

3. reduces the interest rate the court may award the plaintiff on an offer of judgment for medical malpractice causes of action that accrue after the bill’s effective date by reducing (a) from 12% to 8% the interest the court must add to the portion of the award up to twice the amount stated in the offer of judgment, and (b) from 12% to 4% the interest the court must add to the portion of the award that exceeds twice the amount stated in the offer of judgment (§ 8); and

4. allows the attorney fee schedule for contingency fees in medical malpractice cases to be waived only after the claimant’s attorney convinces a judge that the case warrants deviation from the schedule, requires that the fee be calculated after any disbursements and costs for which the plaintiff is liable have been deducted, and prohibits fees greater than one-third of the damages awarded (§ 15).

It also (1) requires court review of the evidence in medical malpractice cases of $ 1 million or more in noneconomic damages to determine if the award is excessive as a matter of law (§ 18); (2) gives plaintiffs more time, 60 days instead of 10, to accept a defendant’s offer of judgment and allows courts to give plaintiffs and defendants up to an additional 120 days to accept an offer of judgment (§§ 8 & 9); and (3) eliminates the Medical Malpractice Screening Panel (§ 21).

Regarding insurance regulation and oversight, the bill:

1. requires the Insurance Department to approve medical malpractice insurance rate changes for physicians, hospitals, advanced practice registered nurses, and physician assistants before they can take effect and requires the insurers either to offer a discount for those who use an electronic records system or demonstrate that its use does not reduce risks (§ 13);

2. requires that specified relevant factors that may reduce rates be considered when establishing malpractice rates for physicians and surgeons, hospitals, advanced practice registered nurses, or physician assistants, including any reduction in risk from using electronic health record systems to establish and maintain patient records and verify patient treatment (§ 14);

3. beginning June 1, 2005, requires insurers give the insurance commissioner a closed claim report on each malpractice claim that they close that includes details about the insured and insurer, the injury or loss, the claims process, and the amount paid, excluding confidential information (§ 16);

4. requires the commissioner to compile and analyze the reported data and annually report on it to the Insurance and Real Estate Committee and the public (§ 16); and

5. requires each captive insurer that offers, renews, or continues insurance in Connecticut to provide certain information to the insurance commissioner in the same manner required for risk retention groups (§§ 19 and 20).

Regarding medical provider regulation and oversight, the bill:

3. makes liability releases invalid until the attorney representing the paying party files an affidavit with the court that he has provided DPH and the insurance commissioner with the required information (§ 3);

4. requires DPH’s annual report to the governor and Public Health Committee to include additional information such as the number of complaints filed against doctors and the number of malpractice lawsuit notices DPH received and did not investigate and why (§ 6);

5. requires DPH to develop protocols for accurate identification procedures hospitals and outpatient surgical facilities must use before surgery (§ 7);

6. requires doctors annually to provide certain information to DPH, including their malpractice insurer, policy number, area of specialization, and disciplinary actions and malpractice payments made in other jurisdictions, which they can do by including such information in their physician profile (§ 11);

7. requires DPH to report annually the number of doctors, by specialty, actively providing patient care (§ 12);

8. requires the DPH commissioner to develop and implement a process to ensure DPH’s continuing and coordinated focus on patient safety programs (§ 17);

9. requires DPH to collect additional information about physicians for the publicly available physician profile, including disciplinary actions that occurred out of state (§ 21); and

10. requires physicians to notify DPH of changes to any information in their profile instead of just changes to certain information in it (§ 22).

AN ACT CONCERNING PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY PREMIUM RELIEF FOR RESEARCH OBSTETRICIANS AND GYNECOLOGISTS WHO PROVIDE MEDICAID CARE IN ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS

This bill (sSB 1296) creates a fund to provide professional liability insurance premium assistance for obstetricians and gynecologists if (1) they practice in association with a research department of a Connecticut

university and (2) at least 25% of the patients they or the university serves on an annual basis are Medicaid patients. The assistance may not exceed 25% of their premium in any calendar year.

The insurance commissioner administers the fund and must adopt implementing regulations. Obstetricians or gynecologists may apply for compensation from the fund in whatever manner the commissioner prescribes.

The bill appropriates $ 250,000 a year from the General Fund to the Insurance Department for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2006, and June 30, 2007.

AN ACT CONCERNING THE EXTENSION OF MEDICAL MALPRACTICE INSURANCE COVERAGE UPON RETIREMENT

This bill (SB1299) requires insurers that stop offering medical malpractice insurance policies in Connecticut to honor policy provisions that require the insurer to cover alleged acts of medical malpractice that occurred before the insured retired.

The requirement applies only to medical malpractice policies that were (1) issued to physicians, surgeons, hospitals, advanced practice registered nurses, or physician assistants and (2) in force when the insurer stopped offering medical malpractice insurance policies.

The bill requires the insurer to provide the coverage in the same manner as if it were still offering medcial malpractice policies in Connecticut.

GC: ts