N.H. budget can't use malpractice fund
side note: A judge ruled that New Hampshire cannot take from the $110 million surplus in the fund that underwrites the state’s medical malpractice insurance to balance its budget. The fund’s board will now decide if the surplus will be returned to policyholders in the form of a dividend.
By Norma Love
Associated Press
seacoastonline.com
CONCORD — A judge has rejected the state’s claim on a $110 million surplus in a fund that underwrites malpractice insurance.
The state counted on $65 million of the money to help balance the budget in the fiscal year that just ended and hoped to use the other $45 million toward spending in the current two-year budget.
Superior Court Judge Kathleen McGuire froze the fund last month until its ownership was determined. On Wednesday, she said the fund’s board will decide if the surplus is returned to policyholders as dividends.
“The state did not financially contribute to the creation of (the fund) and has not contributed any funds since that time,” she said.
Gov. John Lynch said the state will appeal.
“These surplus funds belong to the citizens of New Hampshire, who created the Joint Underwriting Authority and gave it tax-exempt status,” he said in a statement.
The state set up the fund, the Medical Malpractice Joint Underwriting Association, in 1975 to fill a gap in the availability of malpractice insurance. It says the policyholders got what they paid for: coverage against malpractice claims.
The attorney general’s office advised lawmakers last winter any surplus could rightfully be used to pay for health care.
Lakes Region General Hospital in Laconia and other policyholders said the money is theirs and the state has no right to it. About half the 900 policyholders are doctors. The rest are nurses, physicians’ assistants, home care providers, nursing homes, a hospital group and other medical providers.
Lynch, a Democrat, and the Democratically controlled Legislature have insisted the state created the fund to provide access to malpractice insurance at a time many doctors could not buy it. The intent was to make the insurance available without making it so cheap the private market suffered.
State GOP Chairman John H. Sununu said he wasn’t surprised at McGuire’s ruling.
“It’s not surprising that the court did the right thing and blocked Gov. Lynch’s attempted theft of the JUA surplus funds,” he said. “The court’s decision confirms that the Democrats’ budget is a real disaster for the state of New Hampshire.”
