Opinion

The sharks vs. the gov

New York stands on the brink of tak ing its first-ever serious steps to ward genuine tort reform — and the benefits could be huge.

Provided Gov. Cuomo stands firm.

Because the ambulance chasers and their legislative allies — led by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Weitz & Luxenberg) — are at full throttle, screaming about the supposed triumph of “special interests.” (They’re ones to talk!)

Trust us: It’s all about billable hours.

As part of its 79 recommendations to realize $2.3 billion in savings, Cuomo’s Medicaid task force called for a $250,000 cap on non-economic damages in medical-malpractice cases — i.e., “emotional pain and suffering.” It also proposed an indemnity fund for brain-damaged infants.

Together, the two moves are expected to produce $700 million in Medicaid savings. But they also mean a potentially significant loss of income for tort lawyers, who love to boast of their multimillion-dollar jury verdicts and settlements — of which they get a very healthy slice.

No wonder the state Bar Association wasted no time in reaffirming its “long-standing opposition to caps on non-economic damages in medical-malpractice or any other tort action.”

Trial lawyers aren’t accustomed to making concessions; they’re used to Albany filling their outstretched hands — as then-Gov. David Paterson did last year, when he quietly slipped through a plan to lift a quarter-century cap on medical-malpractice awards.

Fact is, just the threat of malpractice suits in litigation-happy New York has sent doctors’ insurance premiums soaring, not to mention hospital costs — which hit $1.6 billion in 2009 just for lawsuit-related expenses. Those premiums, in turn, have driven away doctors, particularly obstetricians.

To the lawyers, of course, this isn’t about their share of the take — it’s about “the ability of victims to be fairly compensated.” Ha!

Last week, the two legislative houses addressed the issue in starkly different ways in their budget bills: The GOP-controlled Senate preserved both med-mal measures; Silver’s Assembly ditched the cap and proposed the trial lawyers’ changes to the indemnity fund, effectively making it unworkable.

It’s up to the gov to save his reform.

New York can’t afford to let this historic opportunity slip by.