SB 329 – AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE
03/06/08 0737s
2008 SESSION
03/09
SENATE BILL 329
AN ACT relative to payment of members of screening panels for medical injury claims.
This bill requires compensation for persons serving as members of screening panels for medical injury actions.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
03/06/08 0737s
08-2721
03/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Eight
AN ACT relative to payment of members of screening panels for medical injury claims.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Medical Injury Claims; Screening Panels; Compensation. Amend RSA 519-B:3, IV to read as follows:
IV. The chief justice of the superior court shall establish the compensation of the panel chairperson if he or she is not otherwise compensated by the state of New Hampshire. A retired judge serving as chairperson of a panel may be compensated pursuant to RSA 493-A:1-b. Other panel members shall [serve without compensation or payment of expenses] be compensated at a rate of $475 per day of service.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
LBAO
08-2721
Amended 03/27/08
SB 329 FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to payment of members of screening panels for medical injury claims.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Judicial Branch states this bill, as amended by the Senate (Amendment #2008-0737s), will increase state general fund expenditures by $42,750 in FY 2009, $67,770 in FY 2010 and each year thereafter. There is no fiscal impact on county and local expenditures or state, county, and local revenue.
METHODOLOGY:
The Judicial Branch states this bill clarifies the payment of retired judges serving as the chair on screening panels for medical injury claims. The bill also provides that medical screening panel members be reimbursed at the rate of $475 per day. The Branch estimates 30 medical screening panel hearings will take place annually with each panel lasting on average a day and a half. The medical screening panel typically consists of a chair and two panel members. The Branch states a retired judge who chairs a panel will be compensated at $834 per panel ($556 per day * 1.5 days) for an annual cost of $25,020. The Branch states it can absorb the cost of retired judges serving as chairs of medical screening panels as the 2008-2009 operating budget includes $20,000 annually for this purpose, and Chapter 263, Laws of 2007 appropriates $200,000 in FY 2008 and FY 2009 to compensate retired full-time justices for service after retirement. The Branch states the total annual cost to reimburse the two panel members is $42,750 ($475 per day * 1.5 days * 2 panel members * 30 panel hearings). The Branch does not have the funds to reimburse medical screening panel members. The Branch could defray some of the panel member costs in FY 2009 by using the $20,000 in the budget intended to pay the chairs of the panels to pay the panel members but still would need an additional $22,750 to cover the entire panel member reimbursement costs.