Rally for malpractice insurance reform set for today in Albany
by Staten Island Advance
http://www.silive.com
Over 120 physicians from Staten Island will join more than 1,500 of their colleagues from across the state today at a symposium in Albany to voice their concerns over New York state’s excessive medical malpractice rates.
“New York physicians pay some of the highest medical malpractice insurance rates in the nation with doctors in Staten Island paying one of the highest rates in the state,” Assemblyman Lou Tobacco said.
“These excessive rates have forced many physicians to move their practice to more affordable states in order to continue to work in the profession they love. With current doctors leaving the State and new doctors choosing not to practice here, many areas across the State are facing a shortage of doctors, especially for specialists who pay even more for their medical malpractice insurance.”
Those in attendance will assemble at 9 a.m. at Albany’s Hart Theatre and will be addressed by Governor Eliot Spitzer at 9:45 a.m. followed by Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno at 10:30 a.m. There will be a rally on the steps of the capital, with all of the physicians dressed in their white lab coats, at 12:30 p.m. At the conclusion of the rally, physicians are being asked to leave the white coats in a pile on the steps of the capitol, symbolizing the number of doctors who have left New York state in recent years as a result of the high malpractice insurance premiums.
