LRANY: New York Leads the Nation in Medical Liability Payouts
The introduction and passage of the Grieving Families Act in 2022 and its subsequent reintroduction in 2023 raises serious cost implications for physicians, hospitals, and all health care professionals. The bill creates a new category of damages in wrongful death cases, which will increase the costs of medical liability insurance for New York health care providers and institutions. MSSNY is working with numerous other groups, including MLMIC, hospitals, businesses (Times Union: Business groups continue to reject amended Grieving Families Act) and municipalities (Spectrum News), to highlight the serious adverse impact to New York residents and our health care system if this bill were to be enacted.
New York has the highest medical liability costs in the country and ranks third in nuclear verdicts (jury verdicts of $10 million or more). New York also leads the US in medical malpractice payouts in 2021. Though many states have damage caps in place for medical liability cases, New York does not. Expanding damages in wrongful death cases would further increase these costs, leading to higher healthcare expenses and reduced access to healthcare for New Yorkers.
Read the full LRANY article here and contact your legislators to oppose harmful liability expansion bills that impede patient access to care!
