The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s July 2010 decision overturning the raid on Wisconsin’s Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund (Fund) is a victory for everyone concerned about quality health care in Wisconsin. “The integrity of the Fund and the stability of the state’s medical liability system benefit all Wisconsin patients and physicians,” said Society President George M. Lange, MD, FACP in an earlier press release.

One year to the day that the Supreme Court ordered the state to replace the money taken from the Fund, Dane County Circuit Court Judge Julie Genovese entered an order pursuant to a stipulation of the parties requiring the state to return the $200 million taken from the Fund along with $33,747,081.35 in lost earnings and interest. On August 2, 2011, Gov. Scott Walker announced that the money had been returned to the Fund – almost two months ahead of the October 1, 2011, deadline in Judge Genovese’s order.

In 2007, the state of Wisconsin raided the Fund to balance the State budget. The State took a total of $200 million in two installments: $71.5 million in October 2007 and $128.5 million in July 2008. The Society took the State to court in October 2007 to challenge the constitutionality of the raid and restore the money to its rightful place. (Click here to learn why the Society took action.) The Society appealed a Dane County Circuit Court decision upholding the raid, and in December 2009, the Court of Appeals asked the Supreme Court to accept the case, bypassing the appellate court. The Supreme Court accepted the case in January 2010.

Most Wisconsin physicians are required to contribute to the Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund, a trust created in 1975 to pay malpractice claims that exceed physicians’ primary layer of medical liability insurance. During the past 34 years, the Fund has helped keep physicians’ insurance costs manageable and protect patients’ access to quality care, making Wisconsin one of the most desirable states for practicing medicine. There are no taxpayer dollars in the Fund.

“The Fund is a stabilizing influence in the recruitment and retention of quality health care professionals, which leads to better access to health care for patients—something that’s a real issue for more and more of our rural and inner-city residents,” said David Hoffmann, MD, a family practice physician from Mauston who joined the lawsuit as an individual plaintiff. “In fact, before the raid, two physicians from Pennsylvania joined our practice because they wanted to continue to practice high quality medicine but could no longer afford their six-figure medical malpractice insurance coverage in Pennsylvania. One reason they chose to practice here was because of the Fund—it’s critical to maintaining the high quality of Wisconsin’s health care system.”

Trouble for the Fund Equals Trouble for Wisconsin Physicians and Patients

Wisconsin Medical Society—Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund from Big Wild Communications on Vimeo.

Video for the Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund.