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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2013 - 2014
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | June 9, 2014 10:18 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Thomas H. Killion |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Mcare Resolution Initiative |
| Later this week I will introduce legislation intended to resolve a longstanding medical liability issue - the Mcare Fund. Created by Act 13 of 2002, the Mcare Fund provides $500,000 in medical liability insurance coverage for physicians, hospitals and other healthcare providers. The Mcare Fund receives no taxpayer revenue; it is funded through annual assessments on healthcare providers. Although the Mcare Fund and the previously enacted Mcare Abatement Program successfully stabilized the medical community during the height of the medical liability crisis of the early 2000s, it is now time to phase out the Mcare Program in a manner that does not adversely affect physicians and other healthcare providers. Known as the Mcare Resolution Initiative or MRI, the legislation will: 1. Modify the annual Mcare assessment methodology to ensure excessive surpluses are not created in the Mcare Fund; 2. Provide a state tax credit to the payer of Mcare assessments in the amount of the annual Mcare assessments paid; 3. Allow the Mcare Fund to be phased out over four years in $250,000 increments pursuant to Act 13; and 4. Provide that performing Independent Medical Examinations and Impairment Rating Evaluations in workers' compensation, auto insurance or other contexts shall not be considered the provision of healthcare services for the purposes of the Mcare Act. With this legislation, healthcare providers will maintain the mandatory $1 million in medical liability coverage, but will eventually seek this coverage from the private market. In addition, the Mcare Fund will suffer no revenue loss since providers will continue to pay annual assessments until the Fund's total liabilities are resolved. Healthcare providers, however, will be held harmless from the Mcare Fund's unfunded liabilities through the state tax credit program. I ask you to join me in co-sponsoring this important legislation. |
Introduced as HB2365