| Dear Colleagues,
For the fourth year in a row, Governor Hochul has vetoed the Grieving Families Act. MSSNY is deeply appreciative of the Governor’s action. The trial lawyers’ group exerted tremendous political pressure to push the GFA, and they vigorously attacked the actuarial studies that predicted huge 40% increases in malpractice costs and inequitable restrictions to patient access to care. Your efforts through MSSNY—and the efforts of our specialty societies and our allies, including MLMIC, hospital associations, businesses, the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York, and municipalities—were instrumental in convincing Governor Hochul to veto this terrible bill.
In her veto message, Governor Hochul noted, “At a time when the state is facing an affordability crisis and many struggle just to meet basic needs, genuine concerns continue to be raised that the bill may lead to increased costs, including increased insurance premiums and increased financial stress to our health care systems, including those that serve disadvantaged communities.”
Until her announcement, a veto this year was not assured. The other side was hoping that repeated passage of the same bill in both chambers of the legislature over multiple years would have been a convincing argument. The media consistently reported that they had no indication which way the Governor was leaning.
High praise to Governor Hochul for her courageous actions, and congratulations to all of you for this important action for our patients and for us. We continue to believe that the pathway for expanding the rights of grieving families is through the passage of comprehensive legislation to fix the broken tort system.
Thank you to all of you who took the time to urge the Governor to veto this bill and for rallying your colleagues to do the same. Please consider celebrating this decision by contributing to your successful MSSNYPAC by clicking here.
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