Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Lawsuit Over Fund Raid Progresses

Yes, this is still coming. 

The Wisconsin Medical Society told a Dane County judge Monday that he should order the state to restore $200 million to a medical malpractice fund that legislators tapped to shore up the state’s budget.

Thomas Pyper, an attorney for the medical group, said legislators had no authority to take the money because it belongs to doctors who pay into the malpractice fund. Charles Hoornstra, a lawyer for the state, countered that lawmakers can move money from one state fund to another as they see fit.

Dane County Circuit Judge Michael Nowakowski said he would issue a written ruling on the case, but gave no time frame for doing so. Any decision is expected to be appealed, which means the final outcome will likely be determined by the state Supreme Court.

In October, lawmakers passed a budget that transferred $200 million from the malpractice fund to one that provides medical care for the poor, disabled and elderly. By doing so, they freed up money for a host of other state programs at a time when the state is short on cash.

Most people are pretty certain that the Supreme Court will rule in favor of the doctors, thus punching a $200 million hole in the budget.  I hope that the lawmakers in Madison remember that when they are working on the budget next year. 

But the best part of the story is the statements of the government’s lawyer.

Hoornstra said the fund had “gargantuan wealth” and can easily pay the $20 million or so in claims made against it each year. The fund had about $840 million in it before the transfer.

In other words, “screw whatever the law says, there’s plenty of money there.”

Lawmakers have the power to dip into the fund to pay medical bills for the indigent because they are not bound by the policy decisions that legislators made in the past, he said.

What?  Can I be unbound from the “policy decisions that legislators made in the past” too?

(2) Comments
Posted by Owen at 1741 hrs
Law + Politics + Politics - Wisconsin

  1. Huh?  What if we applied that strategy across the legislative law board?  That is just asinine.

    Posted by GAMazy on August 26, 2008 at 1914 hrs


  2. I’ve been saying for some time that a combination of 1) stupid laws (think “gun control” and “PC speech” and “food police”—in combination with 2)  the arrogant elite who simply ignore laws which are inconvenient to them, will bring to a crisis the Rule of Law in general.

    And it ain’t just Doyle, albeit he is a fine icon.

    Posted by dad29 on August 27, 2008 at 1220 hrs


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