Government
Maryland legal opinion allows liability premium relief before July 1
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted June 6, 2005
The Attorney General's office in Maryland issued an opinion last month that clears the way for physicians in the state to receive financial relief on their liability insurance premiums before July 1.
The issue for physicians is now one of timing, said T. Michael Preston, executive director of MedChi, the Maryland State Medical Society. If the subsidy is funded soon enough, doctors could see the relief amount they're entitled to fully accounted for in their third-quarter premium statements, he said. If uncertainty remains as insurance companies are preparing their third-quarter bills, the relief would likely be split between the third and fourth quarters, he said.
The state's General Assembly had approved a measure in December 2004 to help physicians pay their liability insurance premiums in the wake of substantial premium increases by insurance companies. Relief had not yet been granted, however, because there was some confusion in the way the law was written.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/06/06/gvbf0606.htm.
