Reforms Wont Work Without $ Caps, Insurers Say Doctors insurers point to California, Texas as models for med mal reform

With the issue of skyrocketing medical malpractice insurance premiums in the foreground of both the national and state political scenes, lawmakers and regulators battle over how to bring premiums under control.

For the insurance companies writing medical malpractice liability coverage, however, the path toward reasonable premiums leads directly to tort reform measures. More specifically, they advocate reforms that would impose caps on non-economic “pain and suffering” damages, or those damages that are not directly related to the costs of the injury involved in the case. These caps are based on legislation passed in California in 1975 and enacted a decade later after a lengthy court battle, known as Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act, or MICRA.