WI medical society wants malpractice funding back

The Wisconsin Medical Society is fighting to get back $200 million which the state withheld from a fund designed to mitigate the costs of insurance coverage for malpractice suits. The money was withheld to help fill a budget gap the state faced in 2007, and the society sued to stop the state from proceeding.

Every year, Wisconsin physicians, hospitals and other healthcare professionals are required to pay into the fund, and for that reason, the Medical Society says, they have an interest in preserving the fund's integrity. They say the money should only be used to pay the claims of injured patients and their families.

However, a circuit court judge dismissed the society's lawsuit, but the providers have appealed, and intend to fight the case until all possible appeals are exhausted, the group says.

The fund was originally created in 1975 when few insurance companies were offering adequate medical liability policies,sometimes leaving providers exposed.

To learn more about the battle:
- read this Bizjournals.com piece