The Pennsylvania Supreme Court took the words of a health care statute quite literally in reversing a ruling that would have transferred around $700 million to the state MCARE Fund to pay for abatements of doctors’ annual assessments.
In Pennsylvania Medical Society v. Department of Public Welfare , the court said the Health Care Provider Retention Law, aimed at reducing doctors’ assessments to keep them from leaving the state, gave the budget secretary the discretion — but not the obligation — to transfer the funds from the HCPR account to the Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error Fund.
