ALBANY— “Reform of the medical malpractice system would lower health care costs and help restore New York's economy,” said Kenneth Adams, president and CEO of The Business Council of New York State, Inc.
Adams provided testimony to a joint hearing for the Senate's Insurance, Health and Codes Committees.
“New York's medical-malpractice insurance system is on life support and the prognosis is dire, yet the state has not administered the necessary treatment. New York imposes an annual tax on health insurance policies that provides $137 million of taxpayer subsidized medical-malpractice liability insurance for physicians and a pool of dollars for attorney fees,” said Adams.
The Business Council called on the legislature to reject added taxes to fund medical-malpractice insurance subsidies.
The Business Council also called for a $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages, a $500,000 cap for punitive damages and reform of the joint-and-several liability laws.
The full testimony is available here.
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