Payor Liability for Medical Decision Causing Patient Death or Injury

MEDCHI, THE MARYLAND STATE MEDICAL SOCIETY
HOUSE OF DELEGATES

INTRODUCED BY: Montgomery County Medical Society

SUBJECT: Payor Liability for Medical Decision Causing Patient Death or Injury

REFERRED TO:

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  1. Whereas, physicians attend medical school and complete several years of residency and fellowship
  2. before they are allowed to practice in their chosen specialty; and
  3.  
  4. Whereas, physicians are licensed by the Maryland Board of Physicians to practice medicine in Maryland
  5. and health plans are not; and
  6.  
  7. Whereas, physicians who care for patients understand their medical issues and needs and have the
  8. expertise to know what treatments are in the best interest of the health care of their patients, and
  9.  
  10. Whereas, third party payors are denying and delaying the physician-ordered care to manage “costs” not
  11. care; and
  12.  
  13. Whereas, these decisions made by third party payors may cause death or injury to the patient because
  14. they insisted on use of a substandard treatment which the physician did not recommend and the
  15. physician knew was not in the patients’ best interests; therefore, be it
  16.  
  17. RESOLVED, that MedChi seek and/or support legislation and/or regulation which will hold third-party
  18. payors liable for medical malpractice if their decisions to not authorize care recommended by the physician
  19. causes death or injury to a patient.