Personal Injury Law

Damages Caps Do Not Lower Health Care Costs

A team at the University of Alabama recently studied the issue of whether medical malpractice damages caps limiting the amount of money an injured person can receive actually help to reduce health care costs.  The conclusion, as reported by Jim Landers of the Dallas Morning News, is that "Tort reforms have not led to health care costs savings for consumers."   

"It's had a really small effect, or else it doesn't seem to change defensive medicine," said Michael Morrisey, a professor of health economics and health insurance and the director of the university's Lister Hill Center for Health Policy.

This study, along with several others, highlights that the loss of legal rights of those severely injured by medical malpractice is in vain and without justification. 

As Morrisey and his colleagues eloquently put it:

"The results of this study suggest that there are no insurance premium savings that accrue to consumers. Are there other benefits to consumers? If these cannot be identified, it is difficult to see a justification for the loss of legal rights."

Full post as published by DC Metro Area Personal Injury Law Blog on May 03, 2009 (boomark / email).