GA Code § 33-3-27 (2021)
2021 Georgia Code|Title 33 - Insurance|Chapter 3 - Authorization and General Requirements for Transaction of Insurance|§ 33-3-27. Reports of Awards Under Medical Malpractice Insurance Policies

  For the purposes of this Code section, the term:   "High/low agreement" means a settlement in which a defendant agrees to pay the plaintiff a minimum recovery in return for the plaintiff's agreement to accept a maximum amount regardless of the outcome of the trial.   "Low payment" means the defendant pays the plaintiff the minimum recovery under a high/low agreement where the court rules in favor of the defendant.   "Medical malpractice claim" means any claim for damages resulting from the death of or injury to any person arising out of health, medical, or surgical service, diagnosis, prescription, treatment, or care rendered by a person authorized by law to practice medicine in this state or by any person acting under such person's supervision and control.     Every insurer providing medical malpractice insurance coverage in this state shall notify in writing the Georgia Composite Medical Board when it pays a judgment or enters into an agreement to pay an amount to settle a medical malpractice claim, other than a low payment under a high/low agreement, against a person authorized by law to practice medicine in this state. Such judgments or agreements shall be reported to the board regardless of the dollar amount. Such notice shall be sent within 30 days after the judgment has been paid or the agreement has been entered into by the parties involved in the claim.     (Code 1981, §33-3-27, enacted by Ga. L. 1983, p. 882, § 2; Ga. L. 1992, p. 6, § 33; Ga. L. 2005, p. 1, § 8/SB 3; Ga. L. 2009, p. 859, § 2/HB 509; Ga. L. 2019, p. 826, § 1/HB 128.)    The 2019 amendment,  effective July 1, 2019, rewrote subsection (a), which read: "For the purposes of this Code section, the term 'medical malpractice claim' means any claim for damages resulting from the death of or injury to any person arising out of health, medical, or surgical service, diagnosis, prescription, treatment, or care rendered by a person authorized by law to practice medicine in this state or by any person acting under such person's supervision and control."; and in subsection (b), inserted ", other than a low payment under a high/low agreement," in the first sentence.   Editor's notes.   - Ga. L. 2005, p. 1, § 1/SB 3, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "The General Assembly finds that there presently exists a crisis affecting the provision and quality of health care services in this state. Hospitals and other health care providers in this state are having increasing difficulty in locating liability insurance and, when such hospitals and providers are able to locate such insurance, the insurance is extremely costly. The result of this crisis is the potential for a diminution of the availability of access to health care services and a resulting adverse impact on the health and well-being of the citizens of this state. The General Assembly further finds that certain civil justice and health care regulatory reforms as provided in this Act will promote predictability and improvement in the provision of quality health care services and the resolution of health care liability claims and will thereby assist in promoting the provision of health care liability insurance by insurance providers. The General Assembly further finds that certain needed reforms affect not only health care liability claims but also other civil actions and accordingly provides such general reforms in this Act."   Law reviews.   - For article on 2005 amendment of this Code section, see 22 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 221 (2005).   OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL   Reporting payments in medical malpractice case.   - A physician licensed by the Georgia Composite Medical Board is required to report to the Board a payment made as a result of a high-low agreement in a medical malpractice case, even if there is a judgment in favor of the physician. 2016 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 16-6.