Talk Studio: 2021 Legislative Impacts on New York Physicians and Hospitals

MLMIC Insurance Company is proud to present the latest episode of Talk Studio, a video series on important and trending issues in professional liability, healthcare law and risk management. Talk Studio Episode 2 features a conversation on New York’s 2021 legislative session. Here, Nancy May-Skinner, Esq., and Marc Craw, Esq., both of Fager Amsler Keller & Schoppmann, LLP, counsel to MLMIC, discuss legislative developments that impact medical liability and medical practice in New York.

In the video Q&A, Craw updates policyholders on the following:

• changes to the balance of power in the Legislature;
• bills with potentially costly impacts on medical liability, claims and insurance premiums;
• MLMIC’s advocacy with its partners on behalf of policyholders; and
• the status of COVID-specific orders, specifically those related to the statute of limitations and immunity.

Of note, two bills that did not pass could have had significant consequences for policyholders: one on expansion of wrongful death damages, which could have raised premiums by 40%, and another on bad faith, which was estimated to cost the insurance industry as a whole $7 billion.

MLMIC continues to work against three bills that did pass, directly affecting policyholders. The next step on all three – changes to laws on pre-judgment interest accrual, comprehensive insurance disclosures and the employee hearsay exception – is to seek the Governor’s veto. As part of that effort, MLMIC is working with its partners on memoranda of opposition and encouraging policyholders to join a grassroots campaign to directly express their concerns.

If you’re interested in another resource on the topics in Talk Studio Episode 2, we recommend this edition of The Albany Report, in which MLMIC shares an overview of the legislative session and actions taken on behalf of policyholders.

Be sure to subscribe to the MLMIC YouTube channel to view upcoming installments of Talk Studio. We encourage our insureds to “like” and “share” this video with the goal of spreading this important message with the extended medical community.