Friday, April 16, 2010

Malpractice Money Belongs to Doctors, says Pa. Court

Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court ruled yesterday the state must transfer $808 million from the General Fund back into an account that physicians use to help pay medical malpractice premiums.

Governor Ed Rendell says Pennsylvania plans to appeal, which would take the case to the state Supreme Court.

The state legislature voted last year to use money from the Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error (MCare) account to help balance the budget.

Pennsylvania Medical Society Vice President of Governmental Affairs Scott Chadwick says physicians pay into the account, so the $808 million is rightfully theirs.

State Representative Jim Christiana of Beaver County says this was the right decision.

“They paid into it with the hope that it would either reduce their premiums or go to help their industry, and instead the governor ripped it away and used it to balance a severely irresponsible budget,” says Christiana.

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