April 24, 2020 by matray

The Health Coalition on Liability and Access (HCLA) announced the organization's Board of Directors and Executive Committee members for 2020, following the annual meeting held earlier this month.

As Sustaining Members of the HCLA, Board seats were granted to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons/Congress of Neurological Surgeons, the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the American Medical Association, the Cooperative of American Physicians, MLMIC Insurance, the Medical Professional Liability (MPL) Association, NORCAL Group and Physicians Insurance - A Mutual Company.

The American College of Surgeons and American Hospital Association were confirmed as Contributing Member Representatives, and the American Osteopathic Association, as a Regular Member Representative.

The Board of Directors elected the following representatives to serve as Officers and Executive Committee Members for the year:

• Mike Stinson, MPL Association - Chair
• Katie Orrico, American Association of Neurological Surgeons – Vice-chair
• Catherine Hayes, American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons – Secretary
• George Cox, American Medical Association - At-large Executive Committee Member

"Given the particularly heightened awareness of the need for medical liability protection in the wake of a global pandemic, I am thankful for the opportunity to continue to advance the HCLA's agenda by reducing medical lawsuit abuse through comprehensive action at the federal level," said HCLA Chair Mike Stinson.

The HCLA will also be working through its focus committees on specific initiatives. Elizabeth Healy of The Doctors Company will serve as Legislative Committee chair, Dr. Stuart Weinstein, M.D. will continue as spokesperson and lead the Public Affairs Committee, and Simit Pandya of the MPL Association will lead the group's Grassroots Committee.

April 17, 2020 by matray

The Institute for Justice (IJ) sent open letters to six states calling on authorities to suspend requirements that nurse practitioners may only work in hospitals under the supervision of a physician. The supervision requirements in California, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia prevent many nurse practitioners from helping patients in overburdened hospitals, even as volunteers.

“Physician supervision requirements are completely unnecessary and are hurting states’ efforts to respond to COVID-19,” said IJ senior attorney Erica Smith. “Nurse practitioners want to be able to volunteer now, but they are getting caught in red tape.”

Twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia do not require any supervision for nurse practitioners or only require supervision at the beginning of their careers. The remaining 22 states impose myriad restrictions ranging from requiring limited supervision for only certain types of practices to requiring full-time supervision. California, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia have some of the strictest physician supervision requirements in the country.

Multiple organizations and individuals, including the U.S. Secretary of Health & Human Services, have called on states to lift restrictions on nurse practitioners during the pandemic. And many have. Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Wisconsin have already loosened or lifted supervision requirements.

“At a time when we need healthcare workers, many states have lifted unnecessary restrictions on nurse practitioners,” said IJ special projects manager Kendall Morton. “Unfortunately, some states have done nothing. The Institute for Justice hopes that our open letters will spur these states to take action.”

Multiple studies, including an extensive 2018 report from the Brookings Institution, have found that empowering nurse practitioners could have significant benefits for healthcare efficiency without sacrificing quality of care.

Nurse practitioners across the country have struggled to find physicians to supervise them to work for a variety of reasons. Some physicians are unable to supervise nurse practitioners because of limitations in their medical malpractice insurance, while others cannot take on additional responsibilities during this chaotic time. In addition, nurse practitioners must often pay physicians thousands of dollars for supervision.

The Institute for Justice (IJ) is a national nonprofit organization that has worked to remove and reduce licensing restrictions for 30 years, including in medical professions. IJ has sued several states regarding regulations for certificates of need, telemedicine and physician dispensing of medications. It drafts model legislation and advises state legislatures on licensing matters nationwide. According to IJ, the letters are part of its overall efforts to respond to the current health and economic crisis by working to cut red tape hampering individuals’ ability to help one another.

April 16, 2020 by matray

AM Best will host a complimentary webinar on April 28, 2020, at 10 a.m. (EDT). AM Best analytic personnel and insurance industry leaders will review the state of the U.S. medical professional liability insurance sector. The panel will examine financial results, underwriting, loss trends, regulatory and industry developments, along with developments among alternative risk providers. The discussion follows the publication of AM Best’s annual special report on the state of the medical professional liability market.

Register now: www.ambest.com/webinars/MPL20.

Panelists include:

• Sharon Marks, associate director, AM Best;
• David Blades, associate director, AM Best;
• Brian Atchinson, president and chief executive officer, Medical Professional Liability Association;
• Jim Hurley, consulting actuary, Willis Towers Watson; and
• Joseph G. Murphy, chief operating officer, Coverys.

Attendees can submit questions during registration or by emailing webinars@ambest.com. The event will be streamed in video and audio formats, and playback will be available to registered viewers shortly after the event.

April 16, 2020 by matray

Mutual Insurance Company of Arizona (MICA) announced that its Board of Trustees has declared a special dividend to provide economic relief to its members.

The company will distribute a $12 million dividend to all members with policies in-force as of April 30, 2020. The dividend will be credited to policyholder accounts on June 1, 2020.

“We have been closely monitoring the evolution of this pandemic and stand to support our members who face unprecedented practice challenges and economic hurdles. Like many other businesses, healthcare practitioners throughout Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and Utah are feeling the broad effects of this pandemic,” said Ron Malpiedi, senior vice president and chief operating officer. “MICA’s financial strength allows us to respond with this special dividend to our policyholders with great confidence.”

“It’s no secret that the healthcare community at large has been called to the frontline of this pandemic,” said James Carland, MD., president and chairman of the board. “While we give thanks and commend the men and women working countless hours to care for their patients, we are also aware that physicians and surgical groups in private practice are experiencing economic fall-out and pain. Working under these conditions creates increased stress and concern for potential liability exposure. As a physician-run mutual insurer, it’s our responsibility to assist our members in maintaining proper medical professional liability coverage to alleviate stress and to help ensure the sustainability of our profession.”

In addition to this special dividend, MICA is waiving cancellations for non-payment of premium until June 30, 2020.

April 14, 2020 by matray

MagMutual announced new premium discounts on medical professional liability policies as they renew next year for policyholders who experienced lower patient volumes in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Discounts will extend through to 2023 policy renewal period.

“This COVID-19 crisis has altered the way our country is delivering healthcare,” said Joe Wilson, MD, executive chairman of MagMutual. “And because of these changes, many of our policy owners are seeing fewer patients and doing fewer elective procedures. As a mutual company, we believe our policy owners should not pay the same amount of premium when they are caring for substantially fewer patients.”

The company intends to file these discounts with the respective states’ Departments of Insurance during April 2020. Upon approval, MagMutual will inform its policyholders of their new rates at renewal. The premium discount is in addition to the company’s recently announced nine-month payment deferral option.

“This means that over a three-year period, in effect, we ensure our policy owners do not pay for the exposures they did not experience due to lower patient volumes,” said Neil Morrell, CEO of MagMutual. “Coupled with our payment deferral options, our discounted premium rates also mean than the cash flow of the policyholders more reasonably follows their expected billing cycles, as they resume to normalcy.”

April 14, 2020 by matray

MagMutual announced that its medical professional liability policyholders can defer their premium payments for nine months. The premium deferment option is available to existing and new policyholders. At the completion of the nine-month period, policyholders will then have the option to spread out their outstanding balance over their subsequent renewed policy period. The company would like to thank the Georgia Department of Insurance for expeditiously supporting this initiative.

“We understand that our policy owners are likely to be experiencing more stress, anxiety and financial burden than usual,” said Joe Wilson, MD, executive chairman of MagMutual. “We want to do what we can to alleviate one of the concerns they may have, and help in our small way.”

Interested policyholders are advised to contact their sales representative or insurance agent. More information, including details of the program and applicable conditions, are provided on the company’s website, www.MagMutual.com.

As the situation currently appears, the company expects to keep this relief in place for all of 2020.

April 14, 2020 by matray

The following is a Legislative Alert from Protect Patients Now:

Protect Patients Now needs your help to protect patients and the healthcare providers that are working on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Healthcare professionals and facilities are facing challenges, unlike anything in our modern medical history. They put themselves at risk each day while facing workforce shortages, inadequate safety supplies, and insufficient information or changing guidance from federal, state, and local government officials. Despite this, they continue to go above and beyond, doing everything possible to treat the sick and bring comfort to others, often without regard to their own personal wellbeing.

At the same time our healthcare professionals and facilities are answering the call to service, they are simultaneously threatened with future lawsuits based on circumstances that were beyond their control.

That’s why Congress must now act to provide them relief from the threat of lawsuits. Taking action to protect these professionals and facilities, as well as the patients they serve, is in the Nation’s best interest.

But we need your help! Please take a moment to urge members of Congress to follow the lead of several states, and immediately adopt legislation that provides health care professionals and facilities ​civil liability immunity ​for their good faith efforts to treat patients during the COVID-19 response.

Action at the federal level would provide a uniform level of protection and avoid the situation whereby a patchwork of liability laws across the country would lead to unequal treatment of our frontline healthcare providers and facilities during this national crisis.

Patients and physicians can click the links below to let their members of Congress — in both the House and the Senate — know how important it is to preserve continued access to medical care during this unprecedented time. This will allow healthcare providers and facilities to focus on the task at hand of helping those affected by the outbreak without having to worry about the threat of lawsuits.

Thank you for your continued support of medical liability reform.

Physicians: Take Action

Patients: Take Action

April 13, 2020 by matray

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara ordered insurance companies to return insurance premiums to consumers and businesses and provide much-needed financial relief during the COVID-19 emergency. The Commissioner's Bulletin covers premiums paid for at least the months of March and April — including the month of May if “shelter in place” restrictions continue — in at least six different insurance lines: private passenger automobile, commercial automobile, workers' compensation, commercial multi-peril, commercial liability, medical malpractice and any other insurance line where the risk of loss has fallen substantially as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Commissioner's Bulletin requires insurance companies to provide a premium credit, reduction, return of premium or other appropriate premium adjustment as soon as possible, and no later than August 2020.

A premium refund will not require prior approval by the Department of Insurance if an insurance company follows certain methods outlined in the Commissioner’s Bulletin, such as using an average percentage based on estimated change in risk or exposure. Consumers will also have the opportunity to provide their individual actual or estimated experience to their insurance company.

Commissioner Lara also ordered insurance companies to report back to the Department of Insurance all premium refunds they have issued or expect to issue within 60 days, in order to provide oversight and ensure companies are complying with the Bulletin.

April 10, 2020 by matray

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker filed legislation to provide healthcare workers and facilities protections from civil liability while they are on the front lines of the Commonwealth’s COVID-19 response.

The legislation would protect healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses and emergency medical technicians, as well as certain healthcare facilities from liability and suit when the care that they provide is impacted by the COVID-19 emergency. The bill would also provide protections for the health workers staffing the unique Field Medical Stations being stood up at the DCU Center, Boston Convention & Exhibition Center and other locations.

“Ensuring that our healthcare workers have the resources and protections they need has been a top priority for our administration since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Gov. Baker said. “This legislation offers important protections for health care workers and facilities facing the unprecedented challenges that come with the outbreak of this virus, and we look forward to working with our legislative partners to enact this bill and take another step in our efforts to support the Commonwealth’s medical system.

“Massachusetts is blessed to be home to some of the world’s best healthcare workers and institutions, and it’s important that the fear of liability does not prevent them from delivering the kind of medical response we need during this pandemic,” said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito. “We look forward to working with our colleagues in the Legislature to enact this bill and further support our healthcare system during this emergency.”

Gov. Baker also issued a directive that will maximize protections for healthcare workers under the federal Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (“PREP Act”) during the state of emergency. The directive will ensure that healthcare workers and facilities that distribute and administer testing, drugs and medical devices for the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 are protected from suit and liability to the maximum extent possible under the PREP Act.

Click below to read today’s legislation and directive:

• Liability Protection Legislation Filing Letter


• Liability Protection Legislation


• Governor’s PREP Act Directive

April 6, 2020 by matray

Under an executive order, dentists are considered essential healthcare providers and are encouraged to sign up to join the California Health Corps, a newly launched statewide effort to prepare the healthcare delivery system to respond to a potential surge in COVID-19 patients by opening additional healthcare sites. Registered dental hygienists and dental assistants can also register to join the effort. Recruits will be financially compensated and provided malpractice insurance coverage for the care they provide.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order allows for another 50,000 hospital beds at minimum for the state’s healthcare facilities. It also temporarily maximizes the number of available and qualified healthcare workers who can staff the additional beds or relieve frontline personnel by caring for individuals who need treatment for conditions other than COVID-19. Respiratory therapists, medical assistants, public health professionals, medical retirees and other healthcare professionals are needed in addition to dental professionals.

“If you have a background in healthcare, we need your help,” Gov. Newsom said in the news release. In times of catastrophic emergencies, flexibility on scope of practice and licensure is allowed under California law. Those changes in state law were made after 9/11.

Register to join California’s emergency staffing
Dentists and other interested healthcare professionals can visit the California Health Corps website for complete eligibility details and to register to join California’s emergency staffing response to the coronavirus outbreak. After California Health Corps verifies a candidate’s registration and California license for clinical practice (if it applies), Health Corps will ask the candidate to submit an application to complete the process and determine skills, experience, location preferences and interests prior to hiring and deployment.

Dentists’ skills can be used in the state’s fight against COVID-19 in many ways, including:

• Taking vital signs.
• Testing for COVID-19.
• Triaging patients.
• Administering oxygen.
• Administering injectables, including vaccinations.
• Writing prescriptions.
• Intubating and providing deep sedation or general anesthesia services – applies to oral surgeons and dentist anesthesiologists only.

Assigned staffing locations will vary according to the highest need in the state, but California Health Corps said it will try to match applicants’ geographical preferences. The executive order comes as hospitals and medical centers in New York are already experiencing a patient surge along with the problems associated with dwindling capacity and staffing.

“California must continue to prepare our healthcare delivery system and make sure it has every resource to respond to a potential surge in COVID-19 patients,” said Mark Ghaly, MD, secretary of California Health & Human Services. “California’s most valuable resource is its people and I join the Governor in calling on all medical professionals to join the fight against COVID-19.”

Register to join California’s expanded workforce. For more COVID-19 news and resources, including future updates about the Health Care Corps initiative, visit cda.org/covid19.