Legal Happenings in MAG's Office of the General Counsel
Recent Amicus Curiae Briefs
The full text of these briefs is offered to MAG Members on the General Counsel Legal News Page. If you are not a member and would like to join, please contact the Department of Membership via e-mail or by phone at 678.303.9267.
MAG Takes On BCBS In “Any Willing Provider” Dispute
12.13.07 MAG’s Office of the General Counsel has filed an amicus curiae brief in opposition to providing HMOs an exemption from Georgia’s “Any Willing Provider” law. Northeast Georgia Cancer Care filed suit against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia alleging the insurance giant’s refusal to allow its medical oncologists to participate in BCBS’s HMO network violates Georgia’s “Any Willing Provider” law.
BCBS has requested the Court dismiss the physicians’ suit, in part, on the theory Georgia’s “Any Willing Provider” law does not apply to HMOs. In its brief, MAG argued exempting HMOs from Georgia’s “Any Willing Provider” law is contrary to the public policy of the State of Georgia and the intent of the legislature to grant patients the right to continuity of care and to choose their own physicians.
Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Physicians; MAG Filed Amicus Brief in Case
10.29.07 Protecting the rights of physicians, MAG filed an Amicus Brief before the Georgia Supreme Court in a case in which the Georgia Court of Appeals extended the new injury doctrine. The Georgia Supreme Court reversed the Georgia Court of Appeals and found in favor of the physicians stating the statute of limitations begins at the time of the original misdiagnosis. The court found that a continued misdiagnosis causing more severe symptoms cannot be considered a new negligent act.
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Brief filed in case concerning Georgia’s Statute of Repose
06.06.07 MAG’s Office of the General Counsel filed an Amicus Curiae Brief with the Georgia Supreme Court in support of the Court’s well-established position that the Statute of Repose in medical malpractice claims is constitutional and does not violate the principles of equal protection.
On behalf of physicians, MAG files Amicus Curiae Brief to the Georgia Supreme Court on the Court of Appeals’ decision to extend the “new injury” doctrine
05.11.07 MAG’s Office of the General Counsel filed an Amicus Curiae Brief with the Georgia Supreme Court requesting that they reverse the Georgia Court of Appeals decision holding that if a plaintiff in a misdiagnosis case presents with additional or significantly increased symptoms of the same misdiagnosed disease, the medical malpractice statute of limitation and statute of repose do not bar the plaintiff’s claims.
MAG, along with the Georgia Hospital Association, are justifiably concerned with issues related to a physician’s liability and believe the Court of Appeals’ decision impermissibly extends the “new injury” doctrine beyond actual new injuries to those injuries, which are merely symptoms of the same underlying disease.
Brief supports Old Capitol Inn Nursing Home against Georgia DCH
05.02.07 MAG’s Office of the General Counsel filed an Amicus Curiae Brief with the Georgia Supreme Court in support of the Old Capitol Inn Nursing Home against the Georgia Department of Community Health. The case centers on DCH’s “policies and procedures” manuals, which set forth terms and conditions of reimbursement for health care providers who contract with Medicaid. The Court of Appeals has ruled that policies and procedures manuals are to be interpreted in the same manner as regulations, rather than as contracts. The Court of Appeals ruling is a radical departure from judicial precedent that applies contract principles to reimbursement disputes between health care providers and DCH.
MAG, along with the Georgia Hospital Association, Georgia Health Care Association, Georgia Pharmacy Association, Georgia Dental Association and Georgia Psychological Association, believes this decision treats providers who voluntarily participate in the Medicaid program unfairly as it gives a heightened standard of deference to DCH in interpreting its own rules and regulations in matters of reimbursement.
