New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 9 - EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT › Subtitle A - Governor's Office › Chapter I - Executive Orders › Part 3 - Executive Orders (Hugh L. Carey) › Section 3.41 - Executive order no. 41: establishing the executive committee on medical malpractice

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
In January of 1975 the State was facing a medical
					 malpractice insurance crisis. Despite increases of 93.5 percent for doctors and
					 77 percent for hospitals during the previous year, the principal medical
					 malpractice insurer in the State was requesting additional rate increases of
					 close to 200 percent for both doctors and hospitals. When the proposed rate
					 increases were questioned by the Insurance Department, the insurer gave notice
					 that it would completely withdraw from the medical malpractice market as of
					 July 1, 1975, leaving doctors and hospitals in this State without essential
					 insurance protection. Without such insurance, the delivery of necessary health
					 care services to the people of this State would have been seriously
					 threatened.
In order to assure the continued availability of medical
					 malpractice insurance, I proposed legislation creating a Medical Malpractice
					 Insurance Association, comprised of all insurers writing personal injury
					 liability insurance in this State, which would be required to write medical
					 malpractice insurance at rates subject to approval of the Superintendent of
					 Insurance. In addition, I proposed several measures designed to stabilize the
					 cost of malpractice insurance, including appropriate changes in substantive
					 tort law, improved court procedures to speed the handling of medical
					 malpractice actions, and a more effective system of professional discipline for
					 doctors. All of these proposals were adopted by the Legislature.
In June of 1975, I appointed the Special Advisory Panel on
					 Medical Practice, headed by Dean William A. McGill of Columbia University, to
					 conduct an intensive short-term study of the problem and prepare
					 recommendations in time for the start of the 1976 legislative session. The
					 McGill panel submitted its report in January of 1976. Several of the panel's
					 recommendations served as the basis for my 1976 Medical Malpractice Legislative
					 Program, which included a statutory limitation on contingency fees for
					 attorneys in medical malpractice cases; a requirement that health insurers
					 provide coverage for a second medical opinion as to the need for surgery;
					 itemized verdicts and elimination of the ad damnum clause in medical
					 malpractice actions; and legislation to assist hospitals in forming their own
					 mutual insurance company to write medical malpractice insurance. Again, all of
					 these proposals were enacted into law.
In addition to the creation of the Medical Malpractice
					 Insurance Association by statute, doctors in this State, with the assistance of
					 the Insurance Department, have voluntarily formed the Medical Liability Mutual
					 Insurance Company to write malpractice insurance and, with the aid of newly
					 enacted legislation, hospitals are now in the process of forming their own
					 mutual insurance company. In 1975 and 1976, annual increases in malpractice
					 rates for doctors have been held to 15 to 20 percent above existing rates, as
					 compared to the 200 percent increase which was originally requested in January
					 of 1975.
The cooperative effort by the Executive and Legislative
					 Branches over the last 20 months has achieved significant results in assuring
					 the continued availability of medical malpractice insurance and in containing
					 the cost of such insurance. Despite this progress, however, the high cost of
					 malpractice insurance continues to be a serious problem and a significant
					 factor in the overall cost of health care in this State. Consequently, there is
					 a need for an ongoing study to learn more about basic underlying causes of the
					 medical malpractice problem and to find effective long-term solutions.
Therefore, I, Hugh L. Carey, Governor of the State of New
					 York, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and Laws of
					 the State of New York, do hereby establish an executive committee, to be known
					 as the Executive Committee on Medical Malpractice.
I. Powers and Responsibilities.
The Executive Committee on Medical Malpractice
					 shall:
1. Gather and analyze
				  information and data relating to the medical malpractice insurance
				  problem.
2. Analyze the basic
				  underlying causes of the high cost of medical malpractice insurance.
3. Monitor and evaluate medical malpractice
				  legislation recently enacted in this State, and review proposals for further
				  legislative changes.
4. Review and
				  evaluate medical malpractice legislation enacted or proposed in other
				  states.
5. Review and evaluate
				  existing procedures aimed at containing the cost of medical malpractice
				  insurance, such as injury prevention programs and the voluntary arbitration
				  project of the State Medical Society.
6. Make available to appropriate legislative
				  committees and executive agencies all information gathered and reports made by
				  the committee and its staff.
7.
				  Recommend to the Governor any legislative or administrative action in the area
				  of medical malpractice which the committee deems appropriate.