Sec. 19a-17m. Malpractice insurance purchase program.
Sec. 19a-17m. Malpractice insurance purchase program. (a) The Department
of Public Health shall, within available appropriations, establish a program to purchase
and maintain malpractice liability insurance for the following professionals and retired
professionals who have been licensed by the state of Connecticut for a minimum of one
year, whose licenses are in good standing and who provide primary health care services
at community health centers and at other locations authorized by the department: Physicians, dentists, chiropractors, optometrists, podiatrists, natureopaths, psychologists,
dental hygienists, physician assistants and nurse practitioners. The following conditions
shall apply to the program:
(1) Primary health care services shall only be provided at community health centers
or at other locations as determined by the department, located in public investment
communities, as defined in subdivision (9) of subsection (a) of section 7-545;
(2) Primary health care services provided shall be offered to low-income patients
based on their ability to pay;
(3) Professionals providing health care services shall not receive compensation for
their services;
(4) Professionals must provide not less than one hundred fifty hours per year of
such primary health care services; and
(5) The department shall contract with a liability insurer authorized to offer malpractice liability insurance in this state or with the Connecticut Primary Care Association
or other eligible primary health care providers to purchase insurance for professionals
working in primary health care settings. The Connecticut Primary Care Association
may subcontract with community health centers to purchase malpractice liability insurance for eligible professionals providing primary care services at the community health
centers. Liability insurance shall be purchased only from a provider authorized to offer
malpractice liability insurance in this state.
(b) Nothing in this section or section 19a-17n shall be interpreted to require a liability insurer to provide coverage to a professional should the insurer determine that coverage should not be offered to a professional because of past claims experience or for
other appropriate reasons.
(c) The department may provide liability insurance under this section only to the
extent funds are appropriated for this purpose by the General Assembly.
(May Sp. Sess. P.A. 94-3, S. 22, 28; P.A. 95-257, S. 12, 21, 58; 95-271, S. 35, 40; P.A. 06-196, S. 146.)
History: May Sp. Sess. P.A. 94-3 effective July 1, 1994; P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public
Health and Addiction Services with Commissioner and Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 95-271
limited the department's mandate to provide a program to be within available appropriations, deleted limitation to "retired"
professionals and the requirement that the department maintain a portion of malpractice insurance, changed applicability
from just physicians to all listed medical professionals and expanded Subdiv. (5) beyond malpractice liability insurers to
include the Connecticut Primary Care Association and subcontracting, and deleted former Subsec. (c), which allowed
monitoring of claims; P.A. 06-196 made a technical change in Subsec. (a), effective June 7, 2006.