(b) The patient injury compensation fund study board shall consist of the director of the board of risk and insurance management, who shall serve as chairperson, the insurance commissioner and an appointee of the governor. The patient injury compensation fund study board shall utilize the resources of the board of risk and insurance management and the insurance commission to effectuate the study required by this article. The patient injury compensation fund study board shall meet upon the call of the chair. A simple majority of the patient injury compensation fund study board members constitutes a quorum for the transaction of business.
(c) The patient injury compensation fund study board is authorized to hold hearings, conduct investigations and consider, without limitation, all options for identifying funding methods and for the operation and administration of a patient injury compensation fund within the following guidelines:
(1) The board of risk and insurance management is responsible for implementing, administering and operating any patient injury compensation fund;
(2) The patient injury compensation fund must be actuarially sound and fully funded in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;
(3) Eligibility for reimbursement from the patient injury compensation fund is limited to claimants who have been awarded damages in a medical malpractice action but have been certified by the board of risk and insurance management to be unable, after exhausting all reasonable means available by law of recovering the award, to collect all or part of the economic damages awarded due to the limitations on awards established in sections nine and nine-c, article seven-b, chapter fifty-five of this code; and
(4) The board of risk and insurance management may invest the moneys in the patient injury compensation fund and use any interest or other return from investments to pay administration expenses and claims granted.
(d) The patient injury compensation fund study board's report and recommendations shall be completed no later than the first day of December, two thousand three, and shall be presented to the joint committee of government and finance during the legislative interim meetings to be held in December, two thousand three.
(1) Provide the funding mechanism and the methodology for processing and timely and accurately collect funds;
(2) Assure the actuarial soundness of the patient injury compensation fund and sufficient moneys to satisfy all foreseeable claims against the patient injury compensation fund, giving due consideration to relevant loss or claim experience or trends and normal costs of operation;
(3) Provide a reasonable reserve fund for unexpected contingencies, consistent with generally accepted accounting principles;
(4) Establish appropriate procedures for notification of payment adjustments prior to any payment periods established in which a funding adjustment will be in effect, consistent with generally accepted accounting principles;
(5) Establish procedures for determining eligibility for and distribution of funds to claimants seeking reimbursement;
(6) Establish the requirements and procedure for certifying that a claimant has been unable to collect a portion of the economic damages recovered;
(7) Establish the process for submitting a claim for payment from the patient injury compensation fund; and
(8) Establish any additional requirements and criteria consistent with and necessary to effectuate the provisions of this article.
(b) If the Legislature accepts, in whole or in part, the recommendations of the patient injury compensation fund study board, enacts legislation establishing a patient injury compensation fund and approves rules governing the initial establishment, implementation and operation of the patient injury compensation fund, those rules shall be filed with the secretary of state as emergency rules.
Note: WV Code updated with legislation passed through the 2012 1st Special Session
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