GOVERNOR RELL SIGNS MALPRACTICE DATA REPORTING BILL
The Connecticut Chiropractic Association (CCA) today thanked Governor M. Jodi Rell for signing into law a bill that expands the number of medical professions who will report malpractice claims data to the state Department of Insurance.
Consumers will benefit from the law and will be able to receive more in-depth information as to which medical professions are driving health care costs higher due to a large number of malpractice payments, according to Matt N. Pagano, D.C., the group’s president.
“We urged Governor Rell to sign this important piece of legislation into law earlier in the month,” Pagano said. “As the data on malpractice claims and payments is collected and released, it will show the Chiropractic profession in a very favorable light.”
Senate Bill 249, An Act Concerning Medical Malpractice Data Regarding Medical Professionals, was signed into law by the governor on May 18 and is now Public Act 07-25. The provisions take effect October 1 of this year.
The prior law requires physicians and hospitals to submit malpractice data to the state Insurance Department which then issues a public report on the matter. PA 07-25 adds twelve more professions to this reporting law: chiropractors, clinical dieticians, clinical psychologists, dentists, nurses, occupational therapists, optometrists, pharmacists, physical therapists, podiatrists, psychiatric social workers and speech therapists.
Pagano said Chiropractors are likely to fare well in comparison to other professions in malpractice claims and payments. The average premium for a full-coverage liability policy for Chiropractors in Connecticut is $3,000 a year. This provides up to $1 million in coverage for any single claim and $3 million for all claims against the policy.
“The best indicator of how safe a medical profession is can be found in what its members pay for malpractice insurance. Rates for Chiropractors are very reasonable and this clearly is indicative that our profession has not been part of the malpractice problem,” Pagano said.
PA 07-25 was initially drafted to require additional malpractice data from only the Chiropractic profession—an approach that was overwhelmingly rejected by members of the Insurance and Real Estate Committee.
“From Day One, the Chiropractic profession has stated that we would support more information on malpractice claims data so long as this requirement was extended equally to all professions. The new law meets this test,” Pagano said.
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