|
||||
|
For Immediate Release Senate Approves MCARE Program ExtensionLegislation intended to help keep doctors in Pennsylvania The state Senate passed legislation today that would extend the state's MCARE abatement program for an additional year and help to keep doctors in the Commonwealth, according to Senator Don White, R-41st District. Senate Bill 972 now returns to the House for concurrence on Senate amendments. "The key to this bill is that physicians will continue to receive relief from skyrocketing medical malpractice premiums," said Senator White. "Those rates are escalating to the point that an increasing number of physicians are closing their practices or moving out of Pennsylvania. This bill will help doctors continue to practice in our state." 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. The bill would also improve the administration of the program and allow nursing homes to be eligible for a 50 percent abatement of their MCARE fund payment. 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.
| |||
|
Privacy Policy
|
||||
