Pomerantz Perlberger & Lewis LLP

Governor Ed Rendell made his position clear. If the state legislature could not work out a deal to provide medical insurance to poor Pennsylvanians, he would allow the lapse of a $1 billion subsidy to help physicians pay for medical malpractice insurance. The earlier program, known as an abatement, was given to doctors in 2003 when medical malpractice insurance rates surged. The most recent program, including subsidies for working Pennsylvanians earning up to 200 percent the federal poverty level and grants to small business owners who already offer health insurance to their low-income workers. It also included a phase-out of the medical malpractice insurance abatement, which saves doctors from between $1500- 15,000 a year depending on their risk level. Although the program faces funding problems, Governor Rendell stuck to his guns, and the program lapsed over the angry complaints of physicians.

Some doctors claim that this turn of events will have a devastating effect on medical care in the state, as doctors will either retire or leave the state. However, a recent study published in the March 2008 Journal of Empirical Legal Studies shows that there is no significant correlation between the medical malpractice insurance rates and the population of doctors in a state or in the US population as a whole, exposing the threat of doctors to leave the state as just that, a threat intended to blackmail the population into backing down from forcing doctors to accept responsibility for their actions.

If you have suffered as a result of medical malpractice, do not be cowed. The only doctors that will be forced to leave the state or stop practicing as a result of medical malpractice suits are those doctors who should never have practiced in the first place. You have a legal right and an ethical responsibility to pursue action against negligent or incompetent doctors. Contact the experienced medical malpractice attorneys at Pomerantz, Perlberger, and Lewis, LLP today for a free case evaluation.