State lawmakers craft bill that would lower malpractice premiums.
By: David Campbell
Princeton doctors responded with caution to a deal brokered by state lawmakers this week that could lead to lower medical malpractice premiums for physicians.
Dr. Donald Denny of Princeton Radiology Associates said the deal could be "a nice compromise" but cautioned that more details are needed.
Lawmakers reportedly struck the deal behind closed doors at the State House in Trenton on Tuesday while more than 4,000 doctors outside protested skyrocketing insurance premiums resulting from multimillion-dollar malpractice awards.
Under the proposal, doctors’ liability for "pain and suffering" damages patients can receive in malpractice settlements would be limited to $300,000. Doctors sought a cap of $250,000.
A fund for catastrophic malpractice injuries would be set up to pay awards that exceeded the cap under the deal.
The fund would be maintained through annual assessments to insurance companies of $2 to $3 for every person they cover, and through fees up to $15 to physicians, lawyers and accountants when they renew their licenses.
The assessments and fees would bring in between $17 million and $25 million, which could be used to pay large awards through a reinsurance company, lawmakers said Tuesday.
Dr. Denny said the settlement appeared to be "pretty close to what we’re looking for," but said scant details on the proposed fund raise questions about its viability.
"The details are sketchy," he said. "The numbers seem very low."
Dr. Robert Pickens of the Urology Group of Princeton said the deal was "a good start" and a "good-faith effort" by the Legislature, but said a mechanism is still needed to assess the worthiness of malpractice claims.
"Today, anybody can get a lawyer who will take something to court, and I think we need expert evaluation of these claims," Dr. Pickens said. But he said, "For the short haul, this will keep the doctors working."
Sens. John Matheussen (R-Washington Township) and Joseph Vitale (D-Woodbridge), co-sponsors of a malpractice reform bill pending in the Legislature, announced the deal Tuesday.
Many Princeton physicians joined a statewide protest Monday by shuttering their offices to all but emergency patients.
Doctors say annual premiums for high-risk specialties like neurosurgery and obstetrics can exceed $200,000, and say high premiums threaten patient access to medical care by forcing doctors to retire early or move their practices out of state. High malpractice insurance premiums also discourage new doctors from starting practices in New Jersey, they say.

