NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8627
SPONSOR: Lavine TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to chang-
ing the discount rate for structured judgments in medical malpractice
actions
PURPOSE:
Relates to the discount rate for structured judgments in medical malp-
ractice actions.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends subdivision (e) of Section 5031 of the Civil Practice
Law and Rules to update the formula for calculating the present value of
long-term structured payments in medical malpractice actions. For
payment periods beyond twenty years, the bill replaces the existing
calculation with one that uses the thirty-year U.S. Treasury Bond rate
in effect at the time of the verdict.
Section 2 effective Date
JUSTIFICATION:
Under existing law, the discount rate applied to future damages in
medical malpractice structured judgments is partially based on outdated
assumptions established when the thirty-year U.S. Treasury Bond was
discontinued. Since the bond has been reintroduced and is now a reliable
benchmark for long-term rates, this bill modernizes the discount rate
calculation to ensure greater accuracy and fairness in determining pres-
ent value for long-term damages. This change promotes actuarial sound-
ness and reflects current economic practices.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to any verdicts
entered on or after such date.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8627
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 22, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. LAVINE -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to chang-
ing the discount rate for structured judgments in medical malpractice
actions
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision (e) of section 5031 of the civil practice law
2 and rules, as added by chapter 86 of the laws of 2003, is amended to
3 read as follows:
4 (e) The discount rate to be used in determining the present value of
5 all streams of payments for periods of up to twenty years shall be the
6 rate in effect for the ten-year United States Treasury Bond on the date
7 of the verdict. As to any streams of payments for which the period of
8 years exceeds twenty years, the discount rate to be used in determining
9 the present value shall be calculated by averaging, on an annual basis,
10 the rate in effect for the ten-year United States Treasury Bond on the
11 date of the verdict for the first twenty years and [two percentage
12 points above] the rate in effect for the [ten-year] thirty-year United
13 States Treasury Bond on the date of the verdict for the years after
14 twenty years.
15 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to any
16 verdicts entered on or after such date.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13057-02-5
