Wisconsin governor proposes raiding patient compensation fund

State lawmakers and physician groups say it is irresponsible to divert money that is earmarked for patients injured by medical malpractice.

By Tanya Albert, AMNews staff. April 7, 2003.

Physicians in Wisconsin fear that their low medical liability insurance rates are being jeopardized by the governor's plan to deal with the state budget deficit.

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle has proposed taking $200 million from the state's Patient Compensation Fund to help offset a $454 million budget deficit. Physicians, hospitals and other health care professionals have paid into the fund annually for more than 25 years. The money is used to pay damages that exceed the coverage of medical liability insurance policies.

The governor says the fund has money to spare, but physicians and some lawmakers say it doesn't and that it would be irresponsible to use the money for other budget expenses.

"They are trying to plug a hole in one situation, but are creating a permanent problem in another area," said Mark L. Adams, general counsel for the Wisconsin Medical Society.

In addition to worrying that injured patients won't be fairly compensated, physicians and some lawmakers say that the fund, as part of extensive tort reform efforts in Wisconsin, has helped keep medical liability insurance rates low, even as they have soared in much of the rest of the country. Wisconsin is one of only six states that the AMA says is not showing signs of being in the midst of a medical liability crisis.

Adams said that the $200 million the governor wants to take would ultimately end up costing the fund $280 million, including lost interest income. The Wisconsin Medical Society also worries that taking the $200 million from the fund could result in a 50% increase in the fees that physicians pay into it next year.