tort reform-Advocating limited recovery through the civil justice system.

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Since 1986, the only national organization exclusively dedicated to reforming the civil justice system. A nationwide network of state-based liability reform coalitions backed by 135,000 grassroots supporters. An unparalleled track record of legislative success. Read more >

1. Would Tort Reform Lower Costs? - NYTimes.com

   prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/.../would-tort-reform-lower-health-c...

   Aug 31, 2009 – Frivolous malpractice lawsuits and excessive jury awards are not significantly adding to health care costs, says a prominent tort-reform critic.
2. HAS IT? Hell, no.
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4. http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/would-tort-reform-lower-health-care-costs/

But critics of the current system say that 10 to 15 percent of medical costs are due to medical malpractice.

A.

That’s wildly exaggerated. According to the actuarial consulting firm Towers Perrin, medical malpractice tort costs were $30.4 billion in 2007, the last year for which data are available. We have a more than a $2 trillion health care system. That puts litigation costs and malpractice insurance at 1 to 1.5 percent of total medical costs. That’s a rounding error. Liability isn’t even the tail on the cost dog. It’s the hair on the end of the tail.

Q.

So the idea that there are lots of frivolous lawsuits is . . .

A.

Ludicrous.

Q.

In those cases that are brought, are jury awards excessive?

A.

There are already caps on awards in many states. These tend to be on non-economic damages — not medical expenses or lost wages, but typically on pain and suffering. The first was in California in the 1970s. There is pretty good research on that, showing it reduced medical liability payments. These caps vary from state to state, but they’re generally set around $250,000 to $500,000.