Wisconsin medical malpractice fund has surplus of nearly 800 million by Floyd Arthur (PPT) http://carmoongroup.com

1. Wisconsin Medical
Malpractice Fund Has
Surplus of Nearly $800
Million
By Floyd Arthur

2. Wisconsin’s state-run
medical malpractice fund
has a surplus of $783
million, nearly

3. double the $403 million
recommended by the
Office of the
Commissioner of
Insurance,

4. the Wisconsin State
Journal reports. The
surplus was revealed
after state regulators

5. audited the fund last
month.

6. The Injured Patients and
Families Compensation
Fund is supported by
payments from

7. doctors and hospitals,
and is responsible for
pay-outs of large medical
malpractice

8. awards in the state.
However, large awards
are rare in Wisconsin,
which ranked 49th

9. among states in medical
malpractice payouts per
capita between 2007 and
2014.

10. Wisconsin’s medical
malpractice laws are
some of the most
draconian in the United

11. States. Injured patients
treated by University of
Wisconsin doctors, for
example, are

12. limited to total economic
and noneconomic
damages of $250,000.
Pain and suffering
awards

13. against other doctors and
hospitals are capped at
$750,000. There is no cap
on economic awards.

14. Additionally, Wisconsin is
the only state in the
United States that
prohibits parents of

15. adult children from suing
a medical provider if their
child dies as a result of a
medical error.

16. Adult children are
similarly prohibited from
suing on behalf of a
parent who has died. In
other

17. cases, damages for
wrongful death are
capped at $500,000 for a
child and $350,000 for an
adult.

18. Attorneys claim these
restrictions prevent
patients and families
from recovering

19. damages for medical
injuries and
disincentivize providers
from negotiating
settlements

20. in malpractice claims.
“There are fewer and
fewer people every year
recovering

21. compensation and
getting into the fund
money,” said Mike End,
former president of the

22. Wisconsin Association
for Justice, a trial lawyers
group.

23. End, who is a medical
malpractice attorney in
Milwaukee, points to the
fact that the

24. fund’s $1.2 billion in
assets exceeds by $345
million the total
malpractice awards paid

25. from the fund since it was
established in 1975. “That
just blows me away,” he
said.

26. However, Mark
Grapentine, a Wisconsin
Medical Society lobbyist,
says the fund must be

27. large enough to cover
unexpected claims and
future awards.

28. Payments Into
Compensation Fund Too
High, Auditors Say

29. In response to the audit,
state regulators asked
the Office of the
Insurance

30. Commissioner to take
steps to bring the surplus
down to between $86.4
million and

31. $376.6 million, the
recommended amount.

32. Payments into the fund
were already reduced in
2014. However, most
doctors still pay

33. fees of between $1,311 to
$8,653 per year. “There
should be more
decreases in the annual

34. fees,” Grapentine said.
“But you can’t make it up
in one year, nor should
you try to.”.

35. According to Wisconsin
Insurance Commissioner
Ted Nickel, the fees will
be reduced by

36. an additional 30 percent
in 2016-2017.

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