New York's Medical Indemnity Fund
New York's Medical Indemnity Fund was designed to provide a funding source for future health care costs of infants in medical malpractice claims who sustained neurological injuries due to medical malpractice.
What is the Medical Indemnity Fund and Why Was It Created?
The Fund’s purposes are to (1) pay or reimburse the costs necessary to meet the health care needs of “qualified plaintiffs” throughout the plaintiff’s lifetime and (2) lower the expenses associated with medical malpractice litigation throughout the healthcare system. To achieve its purposes, it is designed to pay the cost of all future health care needs of plaintiffs who have received either a court‐approved settlement or a judgment as a result of a medical malpractice action alleging that the plaintiff’s neurological injuries were the result of medical malpractice during the delivery admission.
Who Is Eligible For Enrollment in the Fund?
Any person who has been deemed in a court‐approved settlement or found in a judgment to have sustained a “birth-related neurological injury” as a result of medical malpractice or alleged medical malpractice is a “qualified plaintiff” for enrollment purposes.
What Costs Will the Fund Cover or Reimburse?
The Fund will pay or reimburse the cost of those health care services, supplies, equipment, and medications that the qualified plaintiff’s physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner has determined are necessary to meet the qualified plaintiff’s health care needs. Such costs include those incurred for:
• Medical treatment
• Hospital‐based care, including surgical care
• Nursing care
• Dental care
• Prescription & non‐prescription medication
• Durable medical equipment
• Assistive technology
• Certain home and certain vehicle modifications
• Other health care costs related to services, supplies, equipment, and medication utilized by Fund enrollees.
Services, supplies, or equipment provided to or available to enrollees under an Individualized Education Program, Preschool Supportive Health Services, and the Early Intervention Program or through any commercial insurance under which the enrollee is covered are NOT covered by the Fund.