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