Abstract
The rising cost of claims has fueled a dramatic rise in the cost of medical malpractice insurance in the United States. Increasing severity has driven malpractice tort costs beyond $20 billion per year. A significant percentage of America’s doctors are defendants in malpractice litigation and more than 600 new claims are initiated daily. Malpractice claims do not reliably identify “bad” doctors. In high-risk specialties, virtually all physicians are potential litigation targets. Other factors contributing to the increased cost of malpractice insurance include falling interest rates, higher costs for reinsurance, shrinking capacity, and judicial nullification of existing legal reforms.
More than a quarter century’s experience with California’s Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) statutes provides ample evidence that reforms are well defined and effective. In the absence of these reforms, it is predictable that the current crisis will worsen and access to fundamental medical services will be increasingly imperiled.
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© 2005 Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ
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Anderson, R.E. (2005). The Case for Legal Reform. In: Anderson, R.E. (eds) Medical Malpractice. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-845-8_15
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