CAHI Issues: Medical Liability
There is widespread agreement that the U.S. tort system is broken. With median medical malpractice jury awards increasing 43% between 1999 and 2000, and increases that could average in the double digits in 2004, it is no surprise that malpractice premiums are going up at equally alarming rates, pricing some doctors out of the medical field entirely.
Even more disturbing than communities losing critical medical providers, a 2004 report by the Pew Chartible Trust's Project on Medical Liability indicates that there is a link between liability concerns and the quality of care delivered by physicians and hospitals.
During the 1970s and 80s, many states adopted provisions intended to contain the rise in malpractice premiums by limiting the volume of malpractice litigation and the size of malpractice awards. Some of these efforts have been very successful. The California state legislature passed a law 25 years ago that limited pain and suffering rewards to $250,000 and placed limits on the percentage that lawyers could take from the malpractice settlements.
Jack Lewin, executive vice president of the California Medical Association, told NPR “this law, and this law alone” has prevented California doctors and patients from becoming the latest casualties of skyrocketing insurance costs and frivolous lawsuits.
Several states have recently passed new tort reform laws, and President Bush has made it one of his top legislative proposals, with White House reports suggesting that significant medical malpractice reform could reduce health care costs by $60 billion or more.
CAHI Solutions
The Pew study demonstrates that medical liability reform will not only affect health care costs, but may also improve patient care. State legislators should consider following the example of California's 1975 Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act. Legislators might also consider requiring arbitration before litigation.
Legislative Resources
The Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-Cost, Timely Health Care (HEALTH) Act of 2005 – H.R. 5
For More Information
“The Medical Liability Crisis and its Impact on Patients,” U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee, February 2003
“Confronting the New Healthcare Crises: Improving Health Care Quality and Lowering Costs by Fixing the Medical Liability System,” U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, July 2002
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