If you practiced in Pennsylvania in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, or 2014, you may be eligible for a refund payment from the Mcare Fund, a state fund that provides excess medical liability coverage for physicians and certain other health care providers and is funded by assessments on the providers.
The refunds are required as a result of a settlement of litigation involving the Mcare Fund brought by the Pennsylvania Medical Society (PAMED) and other provider organizations. The settlement requires the Mcare Fund to refund $139 million for assessment overcharges in the listed years.
The Mcare Fund will be mailing notices to eligible health care providers about their refunds – likely in the fall of 2015. The first round of payments is tentatively scheduled for early 2016.
PAMED has created a dedicated website to help physicians and physician practices understand the refund process, including who is eligible for refunds and how to address potential rights to the refund by another person or entity who may have paid the assessment, such as an employer.
The PAMED website can be found at www.McareRefund.org.
If you believe that you are eligible for a refund, you should review the PAMED website and make sure that your mailing address is up-to-date with the Pennsylvania physician licensing boards. This is the address the Mcare Fund will be using for mailing refund notices and payments.
The PAMED website includes instructions on how to update your Pennsylvania license address. You can do this, even if your Pennsylvania license is no longer active.
The AMA State Litigation Center, in which the North Carolina Medical Society (NCMS) participates, provided a financial contribution to help cover PAMED’s litigation costs and also filed an amicus curiae brief in support of PAMED’s position.
