Here’s to Another Year of Prosperity and Opportunity for MSSNY

Here’s to Another Year of Prosperity and Opportunity for MSSNY

Colleagues:

As I prepare to complete my tenure as MSSNY President at next week’s annual House of Delegates meeting, I am left feeling grateful and proud of all the Society has accomplished this past year. I look forward to remaining active as my colleague and friend Dr. Jerry Cohen takes on the role of President.

I’d like to highlight some of the accomplishments that MSSNY achieved over the past year through the contributions of many leaders, members, and staff:

• In February, we launched a new exclusive program with MLMIC. Qualifying members of MSSNY can now obtain a 10% discount on their MLMIC Insurance Company medical professional liability coverage. Most every MSSNY member will qualify for the discount, which starts on new or renewing policies on or after February 1, 2024.
• MSSNY recently expanded assistance through our Physician Payment and Practice Division to all physicians in New York State. Although non-members will pay more than MSSNY members for the service, it remains an invaluable opportunity to take advantage of our expert resolution of complex insurance issues. Over the past few years, MSSNY has helped our physician members recoup over 8.5 million dollars in unresolved insurance claims and takebacks. Our team specializes in navigating insurance challenges—turning unwarranted denials into successful claims and safeguarding your practice’s revenue.  
• Our many advocacy initiatives to protect your profession include: 
• Defeating the Grieving Families Act (GFA). MSSNY, in coalition with MLMIC, hospitals and others, pressed Governor Hochul to veto the GFA for a second time. The trial lawyers’ proposal threatened to expand physician liability and increase malpractice rates by a staggering 40%. With your assistance, we generated thousands of phone calls and letters to the Governor as well as numerous op-eds in papers across the State. This victory saved the average New York physician approximately $14,800.
• Fighting Insurers by successfully advocating for a number of bills that passed, including a law requiring health insurers to use a doctor in the same or similar specialty as the treating physician when filing first-level appeals and creation of a Health Insurance Guarantee Fund, long a MSSNY policy goal.
• Expanded Coverage for our patients by expanding Essential Plan affordability and increased premium assistance for health marketplace plans. 
• Limiting Proposed Medicare Payment Cuts
• Working with the AMA to push state and federal agencies to pressure health insurers and Medicare to facilitate payments to practices struggling as a result of the Change Healthcare Cyber Incident. 

I leave you all in the very capable hands of Dr. Jerry Cohen as he begins his tenure as MSSNY President. May this be yet another year of opportunity and prosperity for the Medical Society of the State of New York.

Paul A. Pipia, MD 

MSSNY President