The Medical Malpractice ‘Crisis’: Recent Trends And The Impact Of State Tort Reforms

TLDR

The United States is experiencing a third medical malpractice crisis, with rising premiums driven by increasing claim severity and the exit of major carriers, prompting proposals to cap payments to slow cost growth. The study examines whether temporary measures such as payment caps advance the objectives of the U.S. medical liability system.

Abstract

By many accounts, the United States is in the midst of its third medical malpractice "crisis." Physicians in several states are facing high and rising premiums. The largest national medical malpractice carrier and some large multistate physician-backed liability firms have recently left the market. Rising premiums are traced largely to increases in claims severity. Capping malpractice payments has been advanced as one approach to slowing the growth in premiums. This analysis finds that premiums in states that cap awards are 17.1 percent lower than in states that don't cap. At issue, however, is whether these stopgap solutions promote the goals of the U.S. liability system.