texas tort reform

[doctorFred]

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veers mentioned texas tort reform in another thread. via tortreform.com:

The American Medical Association reviewed about 10 independent studies that looked at how limits on pain and suffering awards and medical liability risk affect insurance premiums, physician supply and defensive medicine costs. The summary, released Feb. 5, found that recent research -- consistent with earlier studies -- revealed that noneconomic damage caps continue to reduce insurers' claims payouts, which translates to lower rates for doctors.
The AMA analysis also concluded that reforms can help alleviate physician shortages. And some research showed that medical liability risk contributed to higher health care spending, the report said.

i know the trial lawyers fought tooth and nail to keep this issue out of the spotlight while the obama administration was considering healthcare reform in general, but is it in the pipeline anywhere else at the state level? it seems like one of the reasons that texas keeps coming up as a prime EM destination once you graduate residency.

 

[deleted109597]

Once you're a member of ACEP, you'll have plenty of information about which states have good scores, and which don't. If you are already a member, then you already have it. Either way, start reading.

 

[southerndoc]

Georgia's limit on non-economic damages was recently ruled unconstitutional by the supreme court. I'm expecting our insurance premiums to increase.

One thing that was upheld was the gross negligence clause for emergency providers. Merely not following the standard of care won't open you to liability in Georgia. You must be grossly negligent. However, the trial lawyers have introduced legislation in an attempt to overturn this and change the language from gross negligence to standard of care.

Once the gross negligence clause is eliminated, I plan to practice elsewhere. Not that I'm a bad doc, but I don't want to be sued for something which I honestly gave my best effort to treat or diagnose.

 

[OldBlue]

The AMA's policy research perspective, "The Impact of Liability Pressure and Caps on Damages on the Healthcare Market: An Update of Recent Literature," drew upon findings of several tort reform studies published in 2006 and 2007.
Some of the research results showed:
Internists' premiums in states with caps were 17% less than in states without caps. General surgeons' and ob-gyns' rates were 21% and 26% lower, respectively.
A $250,000 award limit in states without effective reforms could result in premium savings of $1.4 billion.
The number of physicians practicing in high-risk specialties is 4% to 7% higher in states with caps.
A 60% increase in medical liability premiums between 2000 and 2003 was linked to a $7.1 billion increase in spending on physician Medicare services.
A 10% increase in claims payments was tied to a 1.5% to 1.8% increase in utilization of diagnostic and imaging procedures.

this is incredible...i was aware that uncapped claims were a problem but I had no idea their effects were this far-reaching (salaries, physician distribution, medicare waste, etc). Why is this information not talked about more? Or perhaps I've missed it with my head buried in preclinical texts lately 😕

 

[doctorFred]

this is incredible...i was aware that uncapped claims were a problem but I had no idea their effects were this far-reaching (salaries, physician distribution, medicare waste, etc). Why is this information not talked about more? Or perhaps I've missed it with my head buried in preclinical texts lately 😕

those are interesting numbers, although the phrases "was linked to" and "was tied to" make me wonder if overall increases in the utilization of services was controlled for.