Pennsylvania physicians likely will have to pay thousands of dollars each in deferred supplemental malpractice insurance premiums by Dec. 31 because the state Legislature has failed to pass malpractice reforms, state officials say in a letter sent Tuesday to all doctors in the state.
Until now, the state has permitted doctors to defer payments to the state's Mcare fund, which supplements regular malpractice insurance, expecting that the Legislature would pass reforms which would remove Mcare payments for some specialists (obstetricians, neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons and general surgeons) and cut rates in half for other doctors.
State officials say the Legislature still has time to pass the reform before the end of the year, but they admit that prospects of passage look bleaker and the state needs the funds.