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For Immediate
Release
10/18/06
CONTACT:
PA
Senate Republican Communications
(717) 787-6725
Measure to
Extend MCARE Program,
Keep Doctors in PA Receives Final Approval
HARRISBURG -- Legislation
sponsored by Senator John Rafferty (R-44) that would extend the state's MCARE
abatement program for an additional year and help to improve health care by
keeping doctors in the Commonwealth has been approved by the General Assembly.
The
House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 972 on Wednesday. The Senate
approved the bill in September. The bill will be sent to the governor to
be signed into law.
The
four-year-old program helps physicians pay a portion of their medical
malpractice insurance premiums. It was set to expire December 31,
2007. Senate Bill 972 would extend the program to December 31, 2008.
Under
the current program, the state pays all or part of the premiums that
physicians must pay into the Medical Care Availability and Reduction of
Error (MCARE) fund. The fund helps pay toward the cost of the $500,000
in MCARE fund coverage that the state requires each doctor to secure, in
addition to the $500,000 in primary coverage from the private
marketplace. MCARE assistance is financed primarily by a 25-cent tax on
cigarettes.
Rafferty said that in the last several years, the percentage of resident
physicians who trained in Pennsylvania and then stayed in the state to
practice fell significantly.
"The
good news is that Pennsylvania's medical community is seeing
improvements thanks to the comprehensive patient safety and tort reform
provisions of Act 13 of 2002 and the MCARE abatement program," he said.
"Medical malpractice premiums continue to be very high, but the program
has helped to keep doctors in the state, and that was our primary goal."
Rafferty stressed that without qualified medical professionals,
particularly specialists and obstetricians who've been hit with
skyrocketing malpractice premiums, Pennsylvanians would not have access
to affordable, accessible health care.
"We
need to help doctors to continue practicing here, and without the MCARE
program, more of them could be moving to other states," he said. "I'm
very pleased we are continuing this vital program, which is crucial to
providing good health care to Commonwealth residents."
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