An Urgent Legal / Legislative Update from MLMIC

Below, MLMIC Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Lombardo shares news of Governor Hochul’s veto of the Grieving Families Act (GFA)

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has just vetoed the Grieving Families Act (GFA), which would have provided new mechanisms for additional compensation to plaintiffs in wrongful death actions. Specifically, the legislation would have expanded the types of damages that any current law distributee family member can obtain for the death of a family member beyond economic loss to include new forms of non-economic loss (“grief or anguish”) and loss of companionship.  This bill also increases the number of family distributees who can join in a wrongful death lawsuit and allows them more time to bring such actions. A summary of the vetoed legislation is below:

Summary of Grieving Families Act 4.0 (see bill numbers SB 4423/AB 6063)

1) Greatly expand the type of damages that can be awarded in wrongful death cases through the addition of damages for “grief or anguish” and for “loss of companionship”;

2) Increase the number of persons who can share in the damages;

3) Increase the statute of limitations for bringing such an action to 3 years from the current 2; and

4) Apply these new, increased damages retroactively to any deaths occurring on or after January 1, 2022

As we have since 1975, we stand by you, ready to defend, assist and advocate for you, as we deal with changes that occur in our healthcare delivery system.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity and privilege of serving you. If you have any questions, please give us a call at (800) ASK-MLMIC.

John W. Lombardo, MD, FACS

Chief Medical Officer, MLMIC Insurance Company

jlombardo@mlmic.com