Maryland Medical Malpractice Reform Lawmakers At Odds
Related Entries: Medical Malpractice - StateWith over two dozen bills prepared to reform Maryland's medical malpractice laws pending in the General Assembly, physicians from across the state continue to make weekly treks to the capital to lobby for more reforms.
With premiums soaring for malpractice liability insurance over recent years, growing numbers of Maryland doctors have restricted their medical practices or abandon them altogether. Carol Ritter an obstetrician-gynecologist in a Towson, Md., told a Senate committee last week that she had stopped delivering babies after Dec. 31, 2003, when her malpractice premiums were approaching 80 percent of her revenue...
Many of the doctors who remain claim that they have engaged in "defensive" medicine, which can involve extra, sometimes invasive, tests and procedures performed to avoid lawsuits.
A study commissioned by the Maryland Hospital Association estimated that last year nearly $800 million was being spent that year on defensive medicine. The study, prepared by Baltimore-based Sage Policy Group Inc., defined defensive medicine as "the provision of medical services to establish a defense against a potential lawsuit. These services would not be provided in the absence of that concern."
And more doctors are declining to accept Medicaid and other low-income patients because their reimbursement for those services is so much lower than normal charges that in some cases they can actually lose money. That forces low-income patients to use emergency rooms for routine services, and at a greater cost to the government.
What all of that translates into for the general public is loss of services, loss of access to specialty medical treatment and a whole lot of inconvenience.
Posted on March 14, 2005 02:32 AM
