Millions in Physician-Paid Premiums Transferred to Commonwealth Coffers

The transfer of $200 million from the Pennsylvania Joint Underwriting Association (JUA) to the general fund of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was completed on August 13, 2025. The $200 million consisted entirely of unspent premiums collected from Pennsylvania physicians and appreciation from investment of those funds.

The transfer followed U.S. Supreme Court’s June 23, 2025 denial of the JUA petition for the Supreme Court to review its case against Governor Shapiro and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The JUA, Pennsylvania’s medical malpractice insurer of last resort, sought to have the Court agree to hear the case to overturn the finding of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals that the JUA is a public, not private, entity. PAMED and the AMA submitted an amici curiae brief in support of the JUA. Denial of the petition paved the way for the Commonwealth to take the funds.

The transfer saga was initiated by legislative action. The General Assembly passed, and Governor Wolf signed, three bills in 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively, that sought to require the JUA to transfer $200 million surplus funds (2017 act), transfer all JUA assets (2018 act), and acquiesce to Commonwealth control (2019 act).  The JUA filed suit in federal court to fight all of these efforts and was successful at the trial court level. The JUA based its claims that the state’s efforts to seize JUA funds constituted multiple violations of the U.S. Constitution.